A Tale of First Contact
by blaiseingfire
Summary: When humanity ascended to the stars to escape the Grimm, the nightmarish hordes followed them. But through hell and high water, despite the hardships and pain, they survived against the darkness. Under Ozpin's leadership, humanity began to thrive in an age of unity and peace. Will that sentiment still stand when the Citadel Council finds one of their destroyed worlds?
1. WOR- To The Stars

**A/N** : _Hello everyone._

 _So there is Halo Mass Effect crossover fic called "Mass Effect: Clash of Civilizations" by Eterna1Soldier. Its actually the most followed and faved story in that category. It covers what a more realist first contact would be like (and at a time where most fics at the time handled it with immediate war *some times absurdly one sided*)._

 _It was very well written and thought out and it inspired me to do something similar with Mass Effect and RWBY._

 _So here's the first chapter, which is basically a World of Remnant episode._

 _Enjoy!_

* * *

Remnant.

A beautiful and diverse world overrun by the creatures of your deepest nightmares, the creatures of Grimm. For us humans and faunus, its home. A home overrun by monsters, but a beautiful home nonetheless. Many accepted that this was a good as it was going to get, but others weren't as convinced and looked elsewhere.

They looked up to the stars, to the vast reaches of space. Remnant surely couldn't be the only world out there, right? If the theory that the cosmos was indeed limitless, then there had to be other places we could call home, places where we didn't have to constantly fight for survival against the Grimm.

It was a fools dream and everyone knew it, and it ironically was because of one reason: dust.

Dust is a naturally occurring crystallized energy propellant. Seemingly limitless in supply, dust powers everything for humanity, from traffic lights to household appliances, fuel, and even as weapons against the never-ending tide of darkness. It was our greatest resource, but it was also our weakness when it came to space.

Dust doesn't function once it exits the atmosphere, and since it's our source of power, everything stops dead immediately and falls back to the surface. Atlas has tried and experimented for years on different technology to allow even an unmanned drone into space. It all ended in failure, nothing worked. If the most technologically advanced kingdom couldn't do it, then who could?

Atlas soon abandoned all attempts and projects. The idea of traversing the stars was to remain as an impossibility… for a while.

Eventually, either by luck or as many say was a gift from the gods, we got the key to travel through space. One day, a meteor crashed into Atlas's territory. When they quickly secured and examined the wreckage, they found what is now known as element zero, or Eezo.

After years upon years of researching the new, mysterious element, Atlas believed they had the answer. The rest of the world was skeptical, ignored the news, or outright mocked and laughed at Atlas for wasting resources. Everyone held their tongue and glued their eyes to their tv's when Atlas broadcasted the footage live.

Everyone was shocked when the spaceship continued to function outside of the atmosphere. Everyone was stunned when they saw the view of Remnant from space. Everyone was amazed when we saw the ship fly once around the shattered moon. Everyone cheered when the shuttle safely landed back on Remnant, all on the same day.

Suddenly traversing the stars didn't seem like a fools dream after all.

Progress was slow, we had to ration our limited reserves of eezo, but it was astonishing whenever we got results. Pretty soon, the image of four astronauts, one from each kingdom, standing proud next to the Vytal flag on the moon became the poster image our human and faunus cooperation. The interkingdom space station and satellites came next, allowing us to observe the cosmos and the rest of Remnant like never before, even helping us spot Grimm hordes before they get anywhere close to a village.

But the crowning moment of our early space age was when we established our first colony.

Astronomers observing a nearby star found several planets orbiting around it. After some time and sending probes for observation, it was confirmed to be like Remnant, and the idea of colonization was proposed and quickly became popular. All across the world, people donated manpower, materials, and finances to the cause. For once, all of Remnant had the same dream, and we all worked together to achieve it.

All of the work and effort paid off and then some. The colony ships took off, and thanks to the magic of eezo, traveled several light years in a single day and started to set up shop. It took a few weeks for the colonists to set up their CCT tower (soon renamed the Cross Spacial Transmit system), but when they did and sent a message back to Remnant, it became a time of great celebration. That day even ended up being a national holiday to celebrate the day we established a foothold in the new frontier.

Hopes were ever higher with the increasing amount of good news from the colony, later named Undying Hope. It was a paradise there. Beautiful weather, mild and warm temperatures, and no Grimm. But even more amazing as unexpected, prospectors found stockpiles of dust on the surface and within the soil, a well as a few small deposits of eezo. Undying Hope was everything we dreamed of and then some.

Everyone flocked at the chance to call Undying Hope home, but limited eezo supplies and slow ship production meant that we could only ship very few off at a time. This frustrated many, but it was the best we could do at the time. Plus in the long run, it meant that Remnant's population didn't fluctuate too much, something that would be important in the long run.

Over several decades, we discovered and colonized four new worlds. New Vacuo, New Mistral, New Vale, and New Atlas. You can tell we were really creative with names at the time, but this was mainly because each colony mainly had colonists from each Kingdom respectively, and thus each colony adopted the traditions and ideas of their old homes. Each colony also ended up having its own natural reserves of dust and eezo.

Now at this point, I know you're asking yourself this: If we could look and find new homes lightyears away, and have spaceships, why couldn't we find Salem? Why didn't we bring the fight to her or bomb her back to hell from orbit?

The thing is, we tried. But she wasn't here. We scoured all over Remnant, through every forest, mountain, and even her own domain (which yielded heavy casualties) but we couldn't find her. Salem just simply vanished. No sooner had we made this discovery did disaster struck.

All contact with the colonies has been lost, rather suddenly and quickly. After several days, just as we're about to send scout ships to the colonies received a transmission from Undying Hope. Even though we feared the worst, we weren't prepared for the news to come.

It was the Grimm.

They just suddenly appeared and were everywhere. The colony was taking heavy casualties and they were being overrun. The transmission was lost soon after. It was safe to assume that the other colonies were being overrun as well. It was made worse with the revelation that none of the colonies had huntsmen or huntresses, there were no Grimm there so there was no point to having them there.

Worse still, the transmission was accidentally broadcasted all across Remnant. The resulting fear and panic created many Grimm incursions. It took blood and time to take them down, but the moment we did, we brought in every ship we could and filled them to the brim with as many supplies, droids, soldiers, and huntsmen as we could and sent them out to the colonies on a crusade to save our people.

New Vale, New Mistral, New Vacuo, and New Atlas were saved within several bloody days. Though most of the planets' territory now belonged to Grimm, most of the settled territory and colonists were saved. The same could not be said for Undying Hope. The colony was lost long before the relief force arrived. When they did arrive, they found a world completely overrun by the Grimm, and all attempts to establish a foothold were in vain. Even with reinforcements from the other relief teams, we were pushed back again and again. Undying Hope was soon abandoned and later classified as a "Grimm World."

The whole event, later called "The Early Grimm Resurgent" in the history books, was the lowest point in our early colonization era. The whole dream of finding a home among the stars was born from the idea of finally escaping from the monsters that plagued Remnant, but they managed to follow us and continue to plague our nightmares and homes.

We still don't know how the Grimm came to those worlds. We later even conducted an experiment. We found a small barren moon and conducted many observations on it and saw that nothing was there. We then set up a small outpost of a few soldiers and many mechs on the moon. Weeks later, the Grimm just appeared there out of nowhere, none of our equipment picked them up until they attacked. The soldiers were able to evacuate safely. However, no matter how anyone looked at it or whatever theory anyone came up with to explain the phenomenon, only one thing was certain: No matter where we went, the Grimm would follow. It was a morale killer that swept all human and faunus kind.

But, we continued to seek new homes and establish new colonies between the stars. Maybe we just no longer cared or learned to deal with it like we did Decades ago but on a larger scale, but for better or for worse we were too stubborn to just roll over and die. Hope may have been gone (literally), but our spirits weren't crushed. We were too stubborn to lay down and give up, so we persevered.

We continued to expand among the stars. Dozens of new colonies of all sizes were founded. The lessons we learned from The Early Resurgent made sure we didn't lose them and kept our people safe. Each colony had several huntsman academies and mobilized armies to protect its inhabitants from the Grimm, as well as several CST and CCT systems scattered across the planets to further avoid the potential of communication loss. Subsequently, like the four before them, each colony adopted the personality and quirks of one of the four kingdoms in all but name. The Grimm still remained a constant threat, one we couldn't fully push back, but one we could still effectively fight and hold back.

It wasn't all just Grimm however. Some of the colonies eventually had a problem with bandits, just like we did on Remnant. Though it got a bit complicated when some of them managed to steal ships and become marauders, setting up outposts on asteroids and isolated moons.

Technological advancements were few and small to the point of near stagnation. Thanks to the Grimm, it was hard to get access to excess resources that could be spared for research. Eezo itself was proving to be one of the rarest. All eezo found was immediately reserved for ship production and use. Only in the rarest of circumstances did we have spare eezo to experiment with.

And before you ask: Yes we did try using the ships to orbital bombard large areas of Grimm, but all it accomplished, in the long run, was ruining the land. Boots on the ground was still the best method to weed out the Grimm.

We did make a few amazing advances. The first involving our faster than light travel. It was an accidental discovery. If we mix gravity and steam dust, eezo and a few other compounds, we get a super fuel for reactors. This allowed us to travel at least ten times faster than we were previously.

The second involved shielding and weaponry. We were able to use dust to create energy-type shields, but due to their expense, only a few were made for important locations like the Amity Colosseum. But with eezo, scientists were able to make a kinetic-like shield. This shield was more flexible and was able to be used on our ships. It couldn't beat our energy shields in terms of durability, but it was something we could easily and actually make for our ships.

The idea of personal shields was tossed around a few times, but so far no could figure out how to make eezo cores that small yet.

So overall, life was as good as it was going to get and we were thriving.

Maybe that's what provoked Salem to finally make a move.

All was quiet on the outer colonies when suddenly almost everyone transmitted a distress signal for help, they were under attack. From the reaches of uncharted space, armadas of space-faring Grimm the size of our own ships, if not bigger, appeared. While they, for whatever thankful reason, couldn't enter far into the atmosphere, they could get close enough for them to unleash horde after horde of Grimm.

Our navy and militaries and huntsmen did everything they could to hold back the tides of darkness. We fought hard and made them pay for every inch. But the Grimm always vastly outnumbered us. It mattered not how many we have slain, we were being crushed and overrun everywhere.

And Salem didn't just send the Grimm after us. While the outer colonies crumbled at the full force of the horde, everywhere else faced sabotage and attack from within. In addition to the Grimm all ready on the other worlds, Salem had followers, lots of them right under our noses. Insurgencies, terrorist attacks, and marauder attacks by those who pledged loyalty to her, the Cult of Salem we later called them, made it hell to try and respond and defend ourselves properly, made only worse by the Grimm these acts drew in.

Nightmare couldn't do justice to describe the early weeks of the war. The enemy was everywhere, the panic drew in the Grimm, and the body count rose so fast it quickly outdid the Great War and the Early Grim Resurgence. It was a massacre…

No, that would imply that we didn't put up a fighting chance. We didn't just lay over and die, we're too stubborn to do that. We resisted and fought even when the world we were on was declared lost. We tracked down and attacked the cultists, terrorists, and marauders. We made Salem's forces pay for every advancement she made. We didn't just defend, we went on the attack to meet Salem's offensive and somehow managed to destroy her momentum. A win here, a loss there. The line held there, the lines collapsed here. A world saved here, a world completely lost there. It became a stalemate, but it was still in her favor.

During the war, certain pieces of information we desperately want to keep hidden soon came out and became public knowledge.

First and most obviously: Salem, and everything she is and stands for.

Second: Ozpin, his reincarnations, and his centuries if not near millennia struggle against Salem.

Such information shook humanity to its core. Fear and power struggles threatened to break out, much to Salem's delight in trying to divide us. Though… to ours, and hopefully to her shock, it didn't, at least not as bad as we feared. Salem's presence gripped everyone in fear for a while, it slowly died down and was replaced with hope with Ozpin, a man who has been around and fighting for our protection and survival seemingly since the beginning of time. If she couldn't beat him and kill us all when we were still stuck on Remnant, what better are her chances now? He sort of became an inspirational and our poster boy for continuing the fight, though some few gave up hope and joined Salem's ranks.

The war continued on for several long, bloody decades. Millions would perish and many worlds would be rendered uninhabitable. But, it finally came to an end in the Nova Prospect campaign.

We managed to drive a wedge in Salem's lines and found out that she was present on the colony Nova Prospect. Ozpin quick gathered the largest army in our history and lead the charge onto the planet. It's even on record that as soon as they entered the atmosphere, Ozpin jumped out of his ship, slashing airborne Grimm along the way to slow his decent before using a Goliath to break his fall.

He was a crazy bastard back then.

The ground campaign lasted over a week. Ozpin lead humanity's army against Salem's best. Spirits were high, and the highly unusual weather patterns for the planet seemed to be in our favor (thanks to four individuals, whose true nature is still thankfully hidden from the public). It wasn't lost to many how such an event was similar to the end of the Great War, but they all wrote it off as a coincidence or Ozpin's 'magic'.

When all was said and done, and the fog of war finally cleared, it was a cause for celebration. Though the planet was all but destroyed and we later found out the Salem managed to escape despite how mortally wounded she was, we won. The space Grimm were all but seemingly extinct, Salem's followers were either killed or imprisoned, and we were still standing mostly intact. Although we won, our forces we battered and fatigued and much fewer in number, so Ozpin ordered a retreat before we were overrun by the Grimm still plaguing the planet. After that, we took what R&R we could, mourn our dead, and headed home to rebuild.

We won the war (later called Salem's First Crusade), but at a heavy cost. Tens if not hundreds of millions of people were dead, most of our worlds including Remnant suffered severe damage, and at least a dozen worlds became Grimm Worlds or suffered so much damage that we didn't bother to try and retake and rebuild them. It was a tedious process. It would take decades before we recovered agriculturally and infrastructurally, and even then we never fully recovered to our former glory.

Despite everything that has happened, and the occasional marauder attack or extremely rare space Grimm sighting, we honestly have never been more united than ever before. Petty squabbles were swept aside, at least for a while, as we all worked towards a common goal of survival and rebuilding. Though it was more because we were more afraid of what was still out there and the fear that Salem would return, which was practically a guarantee to happen. It was just a matter of when.

The fallen Grimm worlds weren't really truly abandoned. We installed manned orbital stations above them as sort of a monitoring and early warning system should Salem use them to stage another war. Some of the worlds that didn't have too high of a Grimm presences were used for survival training by the huntsmen academies. This wasn't as dangerous as it sounds (to many's shock) and proved to be a valuable learning experience for the students.

Ozpin ended up becoming the figurehead of our cooperation, despite many being displeased at his 'body snatching'. He practically was looked upon as a god. He didn't particularly like this and was quick to shut down any church or cult that popped up in his name, but it didn't stop a select few from worshiping him. He let that bit slide since it somewhat helped with humanities unity, with many leaders respecting him and looking to him for guidance.

Under his guidance, things started to look bright ahead of us and we began to feel like we could handle anything the universe threw at us.

At least we hoped so.

Contact with alien life never really figured into those thought.

* * *

 **A/N** : _And there we have it._

 _So what did you guys think? Love it? Hate it? Think improvements can be made? Leave a review, I like to know how wel I'm doing/how I can improve._

 _Thanks again for reading, have a great day :)_


	2. A Discovery

_Since Ancient Remnant, Humanity Was Protected By The Wizard._

 _With Dust and Soul, We Became Warriors Of The Wizard._

 _Not Conquered By Fear, Huntsman and Huntress, With Ozpin._

 _Unshatterable Aura, We Defend Against All, With Ozpin._

 _Ultimate Warriors, Fighters Of Salem, Huntsman and Huntress!_

 _Humanity's Protectors, Undefeated In Battle, Huntsman and Huntress!_

 _Courage and Honor, Human and Faunus, Huntsman and Huntress!_

 _Huntsman and Huntress, Human Defenders!_

 _Huntsman and Huntress, Courage and Honor!_

 _Huntsman and Huntress, Faunus Defenders!_

 _Huntsman and Huntress, Huntsman and Huntress!_

(A battle chant of the religious group 'Ozpin's Proud Sons', ' _officially_ ' disbanded after Salem's Crusade, upon Ozpin's request)

* * *

Despite being devoid of human and faunus life, most of humanity's dead worlds were never truly abandoned. Many had space stations orbiting the planets, to monitor any unusual Grimm activity, planetside or in the void, and to act as an early warning system in case Salem or any Grimm fleet made a return to the system.

The station was small and more two-dimensional by Remnant's standards, but they kept the crews comfortable and did their jobs well, and even had enough room for the crew to make some personal touches. These stations also acted as storage depots and gave housing to servicemen and huntsmen teams should they decided to pass through, train, or make an expedition into the dead world. Salem had been quiet in the few decades following her failed crusade, so life was relatively calm and easy.

However, on one fateful morning, the crew of the Nova Prospect Orbital Monitoring Station would have its usual silence shattered by the high pitched siren and the commander's orders that sent chills through the spines of everyone aboard.

"All hand abandon station! Repeat, all hand abandon station!"

* * *

 _"Vytal Command, This is the Nova Prospect Orbital Monitor Station! We have a code 153… code 13- fuck it I can't remember the call sign! We have an armada of Space Grimm heading towards the planet! Several dozen, including at least one Harbinger! We do not have the firepower to last even for a few minutes! I've given the order for all hands to abandon ship! We have also initiated Coal protocol! All essential computer systems will be purged and I gave the order to make twice the amount of minimum random jumps before we regroup! Nova Prospect O.M.S. signing out!"_

Quarian Captain Rael'Zorah played the message again in his quarters. Two weeks ago, his scout ship intercepted this transmission. It was weak and full of static, but they got it somewhat audible a week ago. Only two things could be certain, it was alien and it was a sign of advanced life. After talking with his crew, Rael decided to travel to the sources of the transmission.

However, Rael and many others were concerned. Yes, being the first to make contact with alien life was exciting, but it was the nature of the message that worried him. Despite not knowing what the alien language said, the pace and tone of the voice made it seem like a panicked message. They could be walking into danger. But then again, that could have been this species calm and happy voice. They just didn't know, but he and many others clung to that explanation for hope and ease. No one really dared think otherwise. If they did, no one said a word.

Checking the time, Rael got up from his bed and left to head to the bridge. He made his way through the cramped but easily navigable hallways of his ship. Any other race would feel claustrophobic in the corridors of most Quarian ships, Krogans couldn't even fit in them. The Quarians were uncomfortable at first as well, but it was now first nature for them, for they have been traversing through these corridors for as long as they could remember and in their recorded history.

At least a millennium ago, the Quarians evacuated off of their homeworld. No one knows why, ships and systems have failed over the years of their voyage, including many historical archives early on. The Quarians didn't have FTL technology, and wouldn't until they made contact with the Citadel Council many centuries later, so they drifted almost aimless through the dark empty void of space, kept alive by the crops and food grown on the liveships and by what resources they could strip from the few worlds they came across.

Centuries into their voyage, an attempt was made to colonize a planet to call their new home. It was a colossal disaster that ended with hundreds, if not thousands, of lives lost. It was discovered too late that their time sealed in pressurized and sterile environments had severely weakened their immune system. Bacteria that would at worst give them a cough for a day suddenly became as dangerous as a plague aboard their ships.. No Quarian could safely live outside of an environmental suit anymore. Many see it as uncomforting, but they have had centuries to get used to it and mostly no longer care.

Muttering a hello to the few crew members he passed, Rael eventually made it to the bridge of the ship.

"Rael'Zorah Captain, we are one minute from exiting FTL travel into the system where the signal originated from." A decidedly computerized harmony of voices started with a precision most would take their entire lives to accomplish.

"Thank you for the update Legion," Rael nodded to the single Geth unit as he took his position in his Captain's chair.

The Geth were automated robots made by the Quarians approximately four centuries ago. The crew of the Alarei experimented with the idea of bipedal robots to help maintain the fleet. Many dismissed it, believe the upkeep and maintenance would be too much to warrant their use, but they were wrong. The Geth were efficient workers, and while consumed power, they were able to replace the missing ranks of the Quarians and get to places too dangerous for them. They even saved a valuable food-producing liveship from breaking down, saving millions of lives.

The Quarians encountered a Citadel Councill colony two centuries later. They were welcomed with open arms until the Geth were revealed. The Quarians were then viewed with extreme caution. Most Council races have attempted and experimented with AI, and they all ended with tragedy. However, the Salarians determined that the Geth weren't true AI, at least by their standards and definition. They were several VI programs working together to make intelligence. Several programs in one Geth unit were no more intelligent than a Varren, but units that had at least one-thousand individual programs in it at one time was just as intelligent if not smarter than any other organics. Those very few units were called Legions, named after a verse from an old Quarian tale, 'Thy name is Legion, for thy are many.'

The Council's hopes weren't raised when one day, seemingly overnight, 70% of all Geth disappeared, taking off into the unexplored half of the galaxy, never to be heard from again. Even the Geth programs that stayed were perplexed by the sudden even, not even having any clue or warning to the events. Eventually, the Council decided that planetary systems had the right to individually choose whether the Geth were allowed on their surfaces or not. Many worlds unsurprisingly denied them, but it didn't matter in the end since most Geth stayed within the Migrant Fleet.

"Give me a general ship status," Rael commanded.

"All systems are operating at peak efficiency," a crewman responded. "We'll be exiting FTL in four… three… two..." and then with a barely noticeable small jolt, the ship exited FTL and started drifting through space. "No abnormal change in any systems. We're good."

"Excellent. Alright, give me a scan of the system."

"Yes sir," another crewman said as he did as commanded. "Sir scans revealed that there is one planet orbiting a white dwarf. There is also an asteroid belt between the star and the planet. The planet is on the other side of the star, sir."

"Rael'Zorah Captain, that planet is the only logical place where the signal could have originated from," Legion said.

"Hmm, are you detecting any other activity or movement?" Rael asked the radarman.

"Negative. Though I am detecting small objects orbiting the planet, none of them are moving. We're too far away to determine what they are."

"Thank you, ensign." Rael took a few moments to ponder this new information. "Alright, draw 25% power from non-critical systems and reroute them to our barriers and engines. We'll bring the ship close to the planet but at the slightest sign of danger we'll pull out. Understood?"

"Yes sir," the bridge crew echoed.

"Pilot, get us to the planet."

"Yes sir, it will only take us several minutes." The Ship then accelerated through space to the planet. But after a few minutes, something happened.

"Captain, we have an anomaly on the sensors!" The radarman said.

"An anomaly? What kind?" Rael demanded an answer. "Is the ship in danger"

"Negative," Legion spoke up. "We are in no danger, but the anomaly is of great interest. Rael'Zorah Captain, the anomaly is in the asteroid belt." A blip appeared on screen. "Scans indicate a faint ezzo signature large concentration of metal-like substances 700 meters in length, not matching the rest of the asteroids… alert, we have a visual. It's a ship."

"On screen now!" Rael commanded quickly as he leaned forward. An image was displayed a moment later. "Kheela..." It was a ship, a destroyed one. Large holes and warped metal coated the hull. A section of it seemed to be missing, but Rael couldn't be sure how much was missing. This brought muttered conversations among the crew. Many questions raced through Rael's mind. What kind of ship was it? Who did it belong to? Why was it destroyed? How was it destroyed? How long ago was it destroyed?

"Alert, additional scans have determined that the satellite objects orbiting the planet match that of this vessel."

Rael swallowed as he felt his stomach knot up. "How much further are we to the planet?"

"Just three more minutes sir," the pilot answered.

"And you are sure that there is no activity from or around the planet?"

"Yes sir," another crewmember answered.

"Continue forth then," Rael said calmly, but his mind was anything but calm as it raced with many theories and possibilities as to what they would find, and with what this species could be like… or were like.

Another thought entered his mind. "Legion would you have an explanation as to why that ship is all the way over here, so far away from the planet?"

"We hypothesized it was destroyed while trying to run hide from whatever was attacking it in the asteroid belt, or that it was destroyed over the planet and the gravity from the asteroid belt pulled it in. We consider that the likely answer due to the lack of other debris in the asteroid belt." Legion answered.

"I see. So the ship could have been revolving around the star in the belt for quite some time then."

"Affirmative, we'll get a better estimate on how long once we get closer to the planet." Rael looked back at the monitor. He was as equally relieved as he was concerned. The planet may have been abandoned for a long time, but then why was there only a single broadcast sent out from here just a few weeks ago?

The next few minutes went by quickly.

"We have achieved orbit above the planet. Beginning scans now," an ensign announced.

"Feed all data to Legion for analysis," Rael commanded. As the crew did their job, Rael looked out the windows and to the outside monitors. The planet appeared to have much of its ecosystem intact, given the large green, blue, and tan areas on the surface, but much of it appeared to be ruined, scorched even.

The space around the planet was no better. Wrecked and destroyed ships similar to the one they found in the field were scattered everywhere. While there were many different ships, each with their own look and feel to it, they all appeared similar enough to show that they were made by the same species. It wasn't lost to him on how there weren't and differently designed ships around the planet or in the system. That told Rael that either there was a civil war among this species, or they were destroyed in a one-sided war by something else. The second option put an uneasy feeling in him.

"Rael'Zorah Captain, scans around the system are complete."

"Very good," Rael responded. "Report."

"Taking in Element Zero half-life, we can determine that a large battle occurred here estimated 50 to 60 standard years ago, but the Element Zero scanned from a few of the ships put their destruction to estimated 20 to 30 years. It's possible that a smaller battle took place long after the first one. There is an orbital station that has structural damage but is mostly intact, however, we aren't able to get accurate readings to determine its estimated partial destruction."

It was unfortunate, but Rael understood. His ships sensors, as good as they were, weren't top notch. "What about the planet? What can you tell me about it?"

"We, unfortunately, cannot. Some form of interference is preventing us from getting accurate readouts of the planet."

This made Rael raise an eye under his mask. Interference? So it wasn't just their sensors. "What kind of interference? Electromagnetic? Atmosphere?"

"Unknown. This interference matches nothing encountered in Quarian and Council records. We can not determine if it's natural or artificial, but it is interfering with our attempts to get accurate readings from the planet. All we were able to acquire are photographs from outside cameras. Unfortunately, they were not made for this type of observation. They are only 3.08% better than if you were to look out the viewport."

"I suppose it's better than nothing," Rael sighed. "Display them, please." A few images displayed on screen.

"From this side of the planet, we are able to determine the existence of forests, grass plains, dry hard rock surfaces, and an ocean," Legion explained.

"A garden world?" Rael smiled under his mask, it was an astonishing find. But the smile dropped quickly when he remembered the situation and took another look at the screen.

"Correct. However, there is visible evidence of orbital bombardment on the surface." Rael pondered that for a moment. The council valued garden worlds most of all for their agricultural values and for colonization every species can adapt to most aspects of them. He would imagine the council being furious at the idea that someone bombed part of a garden world from orbit.

"Is there any evidence or signs that there was a colony or some sign of civilization on the planet?" Rael asked.

"Possibly," Legion replied as a ping appeared on screen highlighting an area on the map. "However, we are unable to determine if it is remains of this species civilization or just a change in the landscape."

A circle appeared around the area on screen. Rael squinted his eyes, but couldn't tell what it was either. If Legion said there wasn't any way to determine what it was, then there was no point in asking.

"Rael'Zorah Captain, are you well?" Legion asked, its head tilted to the side while it's facial plates moved slightly.

"I am, Legion, but I can't deny that I have an uneasy feeling about being here," Rael replied.

"You are experiencing paranoia, Rael'Zorah Captain."

"That implies that my feelings are over exaggerated and unwarranted. I'm as calm as one can be, and being in the middle of an alien graveyard isn't exactly comforting."

"... we can't understand the emotion, but we understand the logic for feeling that way."

That was something Rael both pitied and envied of the Geth. They couldn't feel real emotions, but they also couldn't feel fear. "Alright, let's not stay longer than we need to. Get whatever data you can and get as many pictures from this position. I want us out of here soon."

"Understood Rael'Zorah Captain."

"Yes sir," the crew echoed.

Before long, Rael's crew did as ordered and got the data they could get and left the system, passing by the ship in the asteroid belt one last to for a few pictures before jumping out of the system.

However, if the ship's sensors were just a little bit better, they would've detected something in the lone ship in the asteroid belt: A soulless being, watching their every move.

* * *

 **A/N** : _Hello everyone, I hope you enjoyed the second chapter of A Tale of First Contact._

 _It was a little short than the last, but I found this as a good cut off point, since adding any more will just take away from the next chapter, which shall be from Remnant's perspective. We also have an altered history and origin for the Quarians. Not as harsh than being exiled by the council, but there's a reason for it._

 _Bit of trivia: The chant in the beginning is a modified version of 'Proud Sons' from the 40k Ultramarine Movie._

 _So what did you guys think? Love it? Hate it? Think something can be improved? Leave a review, I'm interested in what you think and have to say._

 _Thanks again for reading, have a great day :)_


	3. Attack on Ironworks bay

_When the Grimm came for us, we found no shelter or escape_

 _All our prayers went unheard, our fear within dwelled brighter_

 _Our screams echoed across the blood stained fields_

 _They stripped our souls bare, with death the only cure_

 _But even death could not take the pain away, or save the living from this plight_

 _Shrouded in this darkness, our children never see light_

 _For thee, the bells forever toll_

 _Our tale will never be told, our pain will never cease_

 _The storms ever grow strong, tearing apart my soul_

 _My only hope is that I'm wrong, that death will grant me peace_

(Poem by an unknown person, found in an abandoned home on Norion, which was under cultist control for three years before liberation in during Salem's Crusade)

* * *

The planet Kronus held a large Atlas-type colony. It was on the border between the worlds Humanity still held and the worlds not yet reclaimed or resettled, or outright abandoned. Kronus held many different biomes, much like Remnant. Only the north continent was colonized, with many different settlements scattered across the forests, deserts, plateaus, and ice cap. The largest settlement was Ironworks Bay, an urbanized area along the eastern coast. It was home to the planet's only dry dock and was the main trading hub in the system.

Ironworks Bay commonly saw a lot of rain all year round, so the locals were used to the loud storms that would pop up every now and then. Tonight, a light rain blanketed the area and would last for the next few hours, with the occasional thundering sound of lightning piercing the sky. But tonight, a different storm will keep the citizens of Ironworks Bay up through night.

" **Warning: Grimm attack imminent!** "

While the sirens and the loudspeakers echoed over the area, the northern gate was in a state of controlled chaos. Soldiers, huntsmen, and the few militiamen ran too and fro as quickly as they could.

" **All civilians, report to the nearest bunker immediately! Have identification on you at all times! Leave all other belongings!** "

The top walls on both sides of the main gate were aligned with dozens of mechs and marksmen. Faunus at the top of the wall with superior eyesight had trouble seeing through the distant fog. The floodlights did little to help.

" **Stay close to your friends and family! Do not stray off alone!** "

Engineers double checked the automatic turrets and various other defenses along the wall and inside the compound. These defenses were instrumental in the wall's defense over the years, so it was the utmost importance that they were functioning properly.

" **Report any structural breach, damages, and Grimm and cultist sightings immediately!** "

Soldiers and militiamen not on the wall took positions inside the defensive compound. Smaller buildings and bunkers inside were maned, gun positions were crewed, and pathways were blocked and reinforced.

" **Remember: United we stand, divided we fall!** "

Many soldiers and other huntsmen stayed near the walls despite not being in cover, ready to be the first line of defense if the gate was breached or to run up the wall to fill in the gaps if soldiers were pulled off for fatigue or were killed. The gunfire and dust discharge soon started before many heard the roars of the Grimm.

One soldier on the ground behind the wall shuttered in the cold and walked along a drainage duct. However, she then heard something odd coming from below and crouched near the grate opening to get a better look. She jumped back in a high pitched scream and opened fire down in the ducts. A Grimm burst through immediately, and soon many more Grimm started bursting through the drainage ducts all around the compound.

For the first time since Salem's Crusade, Ironworks Bay's defenses were breached.

* * *

Colonel James Ironwood stared at his revolver. The dust based rounds chambered in his gun were dull and gray, desaturated of any and all color. The shuttle then hit turbulence and moments later the dust regained their bright colors, signaling that they re-entered the atmosphere and that the dust was usable again. Normally, the mass effect barriers on the shuttle would have prevented this, but the barrier generators on the shuttle were damaged and haven't been repaired since its last engagement.

It was common knowledge that dust, for unknown reasons, couldn't work outside of a planet's atmosphere. However, scientists discovered that areas surrounded by mass effect barriers negated this effect, and dust can be used on a ship or station as long as the barriers were up. Unfortunately, mass effect barriers weren't that hard to bring down compared to dust based energy shields, and once they were down all dust and dust based machinery and weaponry was rendered useless. But with mass effect fields, you only needed on generator for the whole ship, and they required far less power to operate. This was why dust based weaponry isn't used by most of humanity's navy, though most Atlas-type vessels have at least one dust based weapon.

"Pilot, how soon until we're at the northern gate?" Ironwood asked.

"We're about a minute out sir," the pilot called.

"Is there any more news about the attack?"

"Sir," Ironwood turned to the co-pilot, "It's sketchy at this moment, but reports show that Grimm started pouring through the drainage pipes."

"What?! Are you sure?"

"That's all I was able to get sir, and we're 40 seconds out!"

Red lights illuminated in the shuttle and everyone did their final equipment checks. Ironwood did so as well, but his mind was racing with questions. Ironworks Bay was made with defenses in mind. Nothing, even waterworks and sewage, extended outside of the walls, and there has been no documentation of Grimm able to dig large tunnels like that on any planet. So how did the Grimm get in?

Everyone felt the shuttle decelerate and the lights turned green.

"Green light!" The shuttle's side doors opened a moment later, Ironwood was the first one out, the other troopers and huntsmen followed him. Ironwood took a brief moment to observe his surroundings before rushing forward towards a barricade.

He was at a checkpoint on open ground. Wounded were lined up against a wall as medics did the best they could to help them. Many had blankets covering their bodies, they were long gone. The thunder and rain did little to hide the gunfire, dust discharges, explosions and shouting that echoed through the air.

Ironwood shot a Grimm dead before it could bite down on the poor soldier in its grasp, and then helped him up as they shot at more approaching Grimm..

"What's your rank trooper?!" Ironwood asked.

"Lieutenant Argon, Kronus PDF 4th platoon, sir!" the trooper responded. Both didn't cease firing or take their eyes off the kill zone.

"I need a sitrep soldier!"

"We got pushed back about a kilometer but we still have teams holding out between us and the wall. The main gate was taken out early on and then the Grimm just started pouring in. None of the bunkers have reported a breach yet. The Grimm stopped coming from underground so we sent some teams to investigate but they soon reported contact with cultists."

Ironwood gritted his teeth. If there was one thing he hated more than the Grimm, it was those that saw and agreed with Salem's point of view and acted on it. They were simply referred to as cultists. Some politician called them that early in the Crusade and the name stuck. Grimm could be argued to be unintelligent automatons that didn't know any better, but humans and faunus… it was incomprehensible to him how anyone could side with her. The only good thing about them was that Atlas had a very simple policy with them: captured or dead, they will cause no more harm.

"Worse still, the generators that power the wall turrets and gate barrier are in the underground areas. We'll be hard pressed to retake the gate if we don't get t- GAH!" Lieutenant Argon gasped and jumped back as a Beringel rushed up and smashed both of its fists where Argon once was. The Beringel roared as it smacked its fists on his chest. Ironwood turned and fired several shots at its face.

This angered the Beringel and it rushed forward and bit down on Ironwood's right hand. The Colonel's face and posture remained unchanged as he lifted and smashed the Beringel against the ground several times, each in a different spot on the ground, before forcing the Grimm's mouth open with his imprisoned hand and quick triggering several shots down the monster's throat. Argon just finished steading his breath as he watched the Colonel discard the detached head and looked behind him at the dozens of shuttles reigning in reinforcements.

The Colonel pulled out his scroll. "Alright men, listen up. Retaking the wall and closing the gate is priority number one. Avitus, head to the lower level and assist any troopers down there, get the generators back online. Everyone else, you know what to do. Advance!"

Everyone shouted a battle cry as the followed Ironwood over the barricades.

* * *

Winter Schnee kept her breathing steady as she slashed her sword forward, cutting into the fur and hind of the monsters before her. She charged forward, over the decaying corpses, as many other huntsmen and soldiers followed right behind her.

Another large pack of Grimm charged from her flank, but the distance between them gave her the advantage. She summoned glyphs on the floor to propel her forward, cutting down two before they knew what happened. She summoned another one to halt and propel her back, slicing the monster unfortunate to be within her reach. Winter then summoned several more glyphs around the Grimm, each one propelling her through the air as she cut the monsters down until they all were slain.

She took a brief moment to admire her handy work. 'I owe you one Weiss,' she thought before pushing forward. Her younger sister actually first used that move when they went to spare earlier this year. It was quite a surprise, a testament to how she was progressing in the mobile academy, Beacon. Winter really as proud of her, and she made sure Weiss knew it.

Something to the left caught her attention and she saw a pack of Beowolves on top of a building about to pounce on an advancing squad. Knowing they wouldn't be able to react in time, she summoned more glyphs and activated her semblance. Over a dozen tiny, white and blue Nevermores flew forth from the glyphs and quickly attacked the Beowolves.

The tiny Nevermores could do little but annoy them, but that was the point. The Beowolves growled and howled in frustration as they swatted away at the tiny annoyances. The noise alerted the advancing troopers. They backed away to get a better view to shoot them and a huntsman charged the Grimm. They monsters were quickly slain.

But many more Grimm charged in. She decided to try something, to see if she finally mastered it. The tiny Nevermores disappeared as Winter summoned a Glyph in front of her and stabbed her sword into the ground. Despite the difficulty of toning out the noise of the battlefield around her, she concentrated as hard as she could on her objective.

Her patience and effort were well rewarded. As the Grimm drew near, a large and tall blue and white Beowolf Alpha emerged from the glyph. It growled and wasted no time to fulfill its purpose, and quickly killed two Grimm close to it before moving on to kill more. Other soldiers cheered and charged forward in support of her summon.

She didn't show it, but Winter felt a sense of pride when the men cheered. This is what she lived for: making a difference and helping humanity. She could have done the same thing back home, take up the mantle as leader of the Schnee Dust Company and help keep the supply of dust flowing, helping keep humanity safe. But that life wasn't for her, it just couldn't compare to being up close and personal.

This was where she belonged, and she loved it.

* * *

"Fucking hell!" Waxer Merrick shouted as he ducked back against the corner, just barely dodging the gunfire.

"You alright Waxer?" Boil as he returned fire down the hall before ducking back.

"Yeah, just really wish these guys would just do us all a favor and just die already!"

Things weren't going their way. Waxer and Boil were combat engineers, their main job was to make sure defenses and encampments were properly set and make repairs. They and another squad entered the underground maintenance areas to try and get the defenses back online, but they soon came up against Salem worshiping cultists. It was just them two left, but the group wasn't as large as they thought. They believed they had a chance and pushed on.

Waxer and Boil did their best and managed to take out a few squads worth of cultists in the storage and more open areas in ambushes. But it was when they tried to get into the generator room where they ran into a major problem. There were only two entrances to that room. One was collapsed and the cultists put everything they had to defend the other, including a few heavy machine guns to watch the hallway, all while shouting pro-Salem rhetoric at them. They were effectively stuck.

"Should we fall back?"

"And run face to face with a horde of Grimm with the turrets offline? No than- footsteps!" The Merrick brothers aimed their guns to the right as they heard someone approaching.

"Easy brothers," a calm yet gruff voice said, "I mean you no harm."

"Huntsman? Oh thank god." Waxer sighed in relief. Boil looked the middle-aged man over. While he was grateful for the help, he couldn't help but find the man's appearance a little ridiculous. The man wore black fatigues and red armor pieces, but the armor pieces were a few sizes too big for him and rattled loosely, which he thought looked ridiculous. He also cringed at seeing a tattoo of 'Ozpin's Proud Sons' on his arms. He scoffed, past experiences made him believe they were all religious nutcases.

"Name's Boil, he's Waxer," Boil motioned between the two of them.

"Rainart. Avitus Rainart," the huntsman introduced himself. "What is the situation?"

"Glory to Salem!" They heard someone from the generator room shout over the gunfire.

"Cultists," Acvitus growled.

"Yeah, they took over the generator room and shut the turrets off. We can't hold the wall if they're down," Boil explained.

"It matters not!" Another cultist shouted. "The wall shall fall!"

"And so shall the rest of Ironworks Bay!" Another one shouted!

"And then the rest of Kronus!"

"Death to Ozpin!"

"Death to the false wizard!"

"Glory to the fallen witch!"

"Shut the fuck up!" Waxer shouted as he blind fired a burst down the hall. "Fucking hell, can they just-..." Waxer paused when he saw Avitus's face harden. His grinned his teeth and his breathing slowly picked up.

"They dare…" he muttered.

"You ok dude?" Boil asked.

"They... dare..." he pulled two large dust crystals out of his side pouch, and then stabbed them in his arms.

"Holy shit dude!" Waxer and boil backed away from the man as aura overtook him and he started roaring at his transformation.

The huntsman now stood just over 8 feet tall, his muscles were now a lot larger and bulkier than before. The armor he wore was not a size or two too small for him.

"You dare call him a false wizard?!" Avitus shouted as he charged down the hallway. The bullets pinged off him, he shrugged it off like it was nothing. "You dare mock the man who sacrificed more than we can ever imagine for all of us?!"

Waxer and Boil couldn't make out what else he said. It was all lost with the sounds of warping metal, gunshots, tearing flesh, and screams. Waxer went to poke his head around when the top half of a cultist landed next to him. She moved only a little bit before finally dying, her blood continuing to spill on the floor.

Waxer and Boil thought best to wait until the sound of carnage stopped, which didn't take as long as they thought. "The area is clear," Avitus stomped past them, blood dripping from his knuckles. "I'll patrol for more of the vile bastards."

As he left, Waxer and Boil entered the generator room. Just over a dozen cultists lay dead, their weapons smashed and bodies bruised and broken badly. It wasn't hard to ignore, one got used to sights like this when fighting the Grimm.

"Alright, let's see about getting turrets back on."

* * *

"Tai, on you're-"

"Right!" Tai Xiao Long. Took a stance and held his fist out. Upon impact, the Ursa Major's skull cracked and its head bent in an unnatural angle. It fell to the ground and started disintegrating.

"Qrow, above!"

"Gah," Qrow Branwen quickly jumped back and dodged the Ursa that pounced at him, but then the platform he was on collapsed when the Grimm landed on it. Qrow managed to kill it on the way down and land on his feet, and then slipped on the wet floor and fell. "Damn you semblance..."

"Raven… nevermind." Raven currently was surrounded by decaying corpses of Grimm that tried to jump her.

"I'm not so helpless that I can't see an ambush, Summer," Raven scowled as she cut down two more Beowolves.

"What happened at Baston last month says otherwise!" Summer teased as shot down a Beowolf. When the rest of the pact charged she smiled and slit her rifle in two, forming two swords. She smiled and emitted a cry as she quickly spiraled forward. Any Grimm that wasn't killed suffered crippling blows, and were easy shots for the soldiers and robots following from a short distance behind.

Team STRQ continued their banter as they lead the charge down the avenue, cutting down every monster that got in their way. They eventually made it to the end of the road where the buildings ended. Atlas colonies had a standard procedure where every defensive wall had to have at least 100 meters of open ground between it and the civilian buildings. While this made reinforcing the walls slightly harder, it ensured that the Grimm couldn't immediately enter the towns and cities if the wall was breached and secondary lines could be established. The open ground also gave the huntsmen and huntresses a huge advantage of mobility, which team STRQ and everyone else took advantage of.

Summer smiled as she saw the rest of her team and friends dance circles around the Grimm and cut them down by the bushel. She actually enjoyed the thrill of battle like this. It reminded her of the stories her late father told her when she was a small child, where a hero defeats the monsters and saves the day, stories she also told Yang and Ruby.

They got halfway across the field when Colonel Ironwood's voice blared on all of their scrolls, "Be advised, power to the wall is coming back online! Stand by!" Moments later, flood lights lite the area as if it was daytime.

Summer could now clearly see the casualties along the wall and open ground. It was surprisingly light considering the size of the horde. It meant many managed to retreat and will live, but seeing the bodies of those that didn't hurt her soul. "Power's on, but we need someone to get to the gate and activate it to close it or the Grimm will keep pouring in!" Lights along the walls and turrets came next, and soon the guns started firing on the Grimm within the wall.

"I can do that!" Summer shouted as she used her speed to charge forward. Sandwiched between the turrets and Ironwood's reinforcements, the Grimm were massacred. They all charged and formed a line at the gate as Summer and some others barreled through to the control panel at the top. Summer made it to the room first and flipped the right switches and buttons.

A bright energy barrier quickly formed at the gate, slicing some Grimm in half and halting the rest. The energy barrier required a lot of power and was used as an emergency blocker until the thick metal gates connected and sealed the breach before deactivating.

The force of troopers and huntsmen have already moved to the top of the walls. A multitude of colors, that would put a rainbow to shame, of dust and semblance discharge shot forth from the wall striking the ground and advancing Grimm. Even when the Grimm horde faded, the amount of firepower into the night didn't let up until Ironwood's voice came from their scrolls again.

"Ceasefire. Everyone, we are condition yellow. I have more troops coming in to sweep the city for anyone we missed, maintain your position at the walls. Have the droids patrol the drainage and sewage works."

After a few moments of catching their breath, Summer gathered everyone. "We did it!" She cheered and let everyone go. "Good job guys!"

"Thanks," Tai replied as he rubbed his hands. "I think their bones are getting harder, this is starting to hurt."

"Don't worry Tai, I'll be sure to tell Ruby and Yang how you sat this out with sore hands as I saved the day," Qrow smirked.

"Ass," Tai gave a friendly punch to his shoulder before he noticed Raven staring off in the distance. "Ray, you ok?"

"I don't know," she replied in a monotone voice. She turned back and they all could see a hint of worry on her face "... this, this seemed too easy."

* * *

 **A/N** : _And that's a wrap. This ended up being longer than I thought._

 _Also I'm just going to say this now: Updates will be slow because of irl stuff and that im working on 4-5 other fics, but this fic won't be abandoned, it will be sought through to the end._

 _I'm now gonna just close of with a few quick bullets:_

 _-this chapter was partially inspired by a Dawn of War 2 mission_

 _-Poem in the beginning was inspired by the theme of Resident Evil 5_

 _-Raven is with team STRQ, but Ruby also exists. We'll get an explanation as why both are around when we see STRQ again_

 _-next chapter will go back to the ME races… and maybe another POV_

 _Thanks again for reading guys, have a good day :)_


	4. New Discoveries

_One of the most fascinating things I found about the galaxy is how similar each species develops. Despite coming from different worlds, having different biologies, speaking different languages, and practicing different cultures and religions, we all developed society along a singular route. We all built cities, houses, waterworks, schools, farms, roads, governments, and more._

 _One part I find especially fascinating is that we all have similar fairy tales. While many just discarde them as children's stories, they are an important part of our culture. Fairy tales are fantastic embellishments on the basic elements of one's existence. They help teach us valuable lessons that we hold dear to us all of our lives._

 _It brings up a lot of questions yet to be answered on how so many different kinds of species can have very similar thoughts and ideas. Maybe all life is destined to be that way._

 _(An excerpt from the beginning of Asari Matriarch Tev'daha D'ysena's "A Study of Early Galactic Life")_

* * *

 **Citadel, P** **residium**

Liara T'Soni was excited as she looked around the area. The large room on the Citadel was filled with dozens of archaeologists, scientists, and researchers of varying races. These were no doubt some of the brightest and best in the galaxy, and she was part of them. She couldn't help but feel giddy at that thought. She was among the best of the best. Her mind wondered at the many possibilities of why they were all here, and how she was among them.

However, it didn't take long before she started to feel out of place. All around the room, she saw no one she knew or recognized. She found herself feeling isolated while everyone around her checked over things on their omni tools or conversed with one another.

She went to a refreshment table, thinking a little something to drink would do nicely. She checked the labels to make sure she got something safe for her biology and poured herself a cup. As she turned around, she bumped into someone and dropped it.

"Oh goddess, I'm sorry! I should have seen what I was doing!" Liara stuttered out in embarrassment. After quickly looking the Salarian over and seeing that none of it spilled on him, she quickly grabbed some napkins to clean up the mess but was genuinely surprised to see him already on his knees helping her clean up the spilled liquid.

"No need to apologize. My fault as much as yours. Too busy on omni tool studying notes to notice you as well," the Salarian said quickly as they cleaned the mess up and discarded the napkins.

"Thanks for helping Mr. ..."

"Solus. Mordin Solus. Professor, researcher and scientist, specialization in genetics," the Salarian introduced himself as he held out his hand.

"Liara T'soni," she greeted, matching his smile as she reached out and shook her hand. "I'm an archaeologist still in study."

"An archaeologist? Fascinating. And still a student?"

Liara broke eye contact. "Yes. I'm still studying at Thesia's Athena Research College Institute. I unfortunately had to take long breaks due to family and... personal reasons." She scoffed to herself. "90 years old and I'm still studying in college."

"Relatively speaking, if I were an Asari, I would've been 200 when I finished. Take no shame in it. Pursuit of knowledge and understanding is one great goal. Happy to see you perceiving through rough times."

"Oh," her smile returned as she looked back at him. "Thank Mr. Solus."

"Just Mordin, please."

"Ok, Mordin. Still, thank you."

"Won't accept an apology for telling the truth. So, tell me. What fields in archaeologists do you study?"

"I'm specializing in Prothean archaeology. I even interned at the dig site on Feros."

"Ah, heard about that. Largest cache of Prothean tech discovered in a long time. Shame it all eroded internally."

"Yeah, that wasn't my best moment in life. All that data, everything we could have learned and obtained, destroyed by plants." Liara couldn't help but chuckle as she thought back about it. "I was so livid when we found that out."

"Unfortunate, but-" Mordin's speech was halted when a soft beeping noise filled the room and grabbed everyone's attention. They looked to the source and saw a Turian with blue face marking standing on a raised patio.

"Everyone gather around please," he said. Everyone did so. "My name is Castis Vakarian. I am an officer in C-SEC Special Response force, and I will be in charge of your security detail." That got some looks and murmurs, but he spoke again before any questions can be asked. "Councilor Tevos was supposed to arrive to brief you all personally, but she is delayed due to other manners."

If he didn't have the crowd's attention before, he did now. Liara and Mordin shared a glance, each showing expressions of shock, mystery, and intriguing curiosity. One of the 3 most important and powerful figures coming to brief them all? Just how important was this?

"I don't know all of the facts, but I and the other top staff felt we should brief you on what we currently know so you have some idea of what's happening." Castis then typed into his omni tool and a holographic display activated above them, showing a Quarian ship.

"Two weeks ago, Captain Rael'Zorah of the Migrant explorationary fleet picked up an ominous, repeating signal of unknown origins originating from the unexplored regions. There is no mass relay in the area so it takes 2 weeks of FTL travel to enter the system."

Mordin's mind started racing with hypotheses. An unknown signal in unexplored space. It was definitely a sign of intelligent life. But then again the council was assembling an expedition team instead of a first contact team. If they found Prothean ruins, why didn't Castis mention it yet?

The holographic display changed to show a star system. "The system in question has a white dwarf class star, an asteroid belt, and a continental type garden world." The hologram highlighted each area as he spoke before blinking rapidly and zooming in on the lone planet. "As of this moment the planet has not received a designation, so I will refer to it as Planet X. Planet X has been determined to be the source of the signal, and… I'm sure it's best if you see for yourselves. These are images captured by Rael'Zorah's ship" He tapped a few commands on his omni tool. The planet shrunk to the side and in its place stood many 2-D images.

"By my goodness," Liara muttered to herself as her eyes shoot between the images. The images painted the picture of the aftermath of a space battle. Dozens upon dozens of destroyed ships littered the space of a planet. They were ships she didn't recognize, and with what Castis said only moments before, there was only one possibility of what those were: Ruins of a previously unknown alien civilization.

"As you all can see, Planet X is littered with the remains of alien ships, as well as a relatively intact orbital station. A Legion aboard the Quarian ship used ezzo half-life to determine that many of the warships were destroyed within an approximate time table of 50 to 60 years ago, though a small number of them were seemingly destroyed around 30 years ago, but we hypothesized that it was because some of the ezzo cores were still stable before collapsing several decades later."

Some soft murmurs filled the room of people making comments to friends or thinking to themselves. Liara continued to study the pictures. An entire world with the remains of a civilization… one that vanished within her lifetime. It was an unsettling thought. But at the same, she couldn't help but be captivated by the ships. She could see that there were there were several different types of ships in orbit around the planet.

One thing she learned was that you can tell a lot about a species's culture through their ship designs. The Turian Hierarchy prided their structure of order and might, and balanced their ships in armor and firepower, modeling them after an extinct predatory bird that once was common on Palavin. The Asari always modeled their ships after a tale about the goddess Athame and a creature she used to travel between the cosmos. The Salarians prided themselves in efficiency and made their ships as slim and sleek as possible to not let any resource put into it wasted.

But these ships? There wasn't just one type. There were so many different types and variations. Some even seemed to have decorative wood on the outside of their hulls. Wood on starships, something that seemed inconceivable, yet it gave the ships a beauty to them that she couldn't help but admire. Whatever this species and culture this was, she was excited at learning more.

"As I mentioned before, the only planet in the system is the continental garden world. However, the Quarians were not able to get a readout of the planet due to interference." Castis paused to type into his omni tool when Mordin spoke up.

"Pardon me, Officer Vakarian. You said there was interference. Electromagnetic? Atmospheric? Solar?"

"Ah, my apologies Mr-"

"Solus. Professor Solus."

"My apologies for skimming over that part, thank you, Professor Solus." The hologram highlighted and Zoomed in on the planet. "The Quarian ship was equipped with above adequate sensor arrays. They were able to get accurate readings from all over the system except on the planet itself. Images taken of the surface show no sign of any intelligent species still around, only ruins. The Legion and Citadel staff theorized it to be some sort of artificial jamming system still online somewhere on the surface."

This piqued Mordin's curiosity. A jamming system capable of hiding whats on an entire planet from sensors? The Special Tasks Group has a similar system to camouflage their bases on Sur'kesh and on other Salarian and Council colonies. They never had the power to relatively hide an entire planet, yet this civilization did. He suddenly understood one reason why the Dalatrass assigned him to this mission.

"After analyzing the situation, the Council had determined that the system is abandoned and will be for some time if not permanently by its former inhabitants. Why has yet to be determined. You all will be part of the research team. Your task will be to explore, discover, document, study, and research anything we find on and around the planet. Don't be afraid to take apart or overturn anything or travel anywhere, the Citadel has spared no expense for security for this expedition. That's it for now, you'll learn more when Councilor Tevos arrives sometime soon. Until then, your time is yours." Castis disabled the hologram and left the same way he came.

"Fascinating. Isn't it?" Mordin said to himself, but Liara couldn't help but think he was speaking to her as well.

"Yes, yes it is," she said with a smile.

* * *

 **Kronus, Ironworks Bay**

"-other than that, there hasn't been any unusual Grimm activity in the areas surrounding Ironworks Bay. But, I'm still keeping my forces on high alert and even mobilized mechs along the shoreline in case of aquatic Grimm," Caroline Cordovin briefed James Ironwood as she pointed to several locations on the map using a presenting stick.

"Good," Ironwood nodded. "What about inside the city limits?"

"Calmer now that they were a week ago, but there is still some unrest from the crackdown operation."

"The same one that I advised against." It was more of a statement than a question. "It accomplished nothing-"

"It confirmed that those traitorous bastards killed at the northern gate were all that there were. The citizens of Kronus can now sleep calmly knowing we got them all."

"After some fearful days as you had your troops and huntsmen search every home in the city. The risk of attracting another large horde was too great. My own men even reported killing more Grimm than normal on the border during those searches," Ironwood didn't try to hide his annoyance. One thing he hated above all was unnecessary risks, especially when the Grimm were a factor.

"I don't care if you doubt my actions, but don't question my motives, " Caroline loudly sneered back. "62 people died in the attack, Colonel! 62 sons and daughter, mothers and fathers, husbands and wives! 62 precious lives lost forever! 62 funerals, that I attended and witnessed 62 families grieve and weep for their loved one! This whole planet trusted me to keep them all safe, yet I let a band of monsters slip in and between my ranks, under MY watch, and allow them to kill the people I swore to protect!"

Despite her grinding teeth and narrow eyes, Ironwood could see guilt and sorrow fill her eyes. It was a feeling he knew all too well. Her hardened expression softened as she leaned back in her seat. "I- I'm sorry Colonel, I didn't mean to snap at you. I..."

"It's alright ma'am. It was a bad situation, none of us saw it coming. You did the best you could," Ironwood said in a failed attempt to try and cheer her up.

"It's not just that James. I was here when Salem invaded during the war. I was only a petty officer then, in charge of safeguarding one of the smaller border towns. I let disguised agents of that witch slip through, allowing them to sabotage us and pave the way for the invasion force. We only survived because reinforcements arrived days later. And decades later I just made the same goddamn mistake. Only this time it didn't take months to clean the streets of all the bodies."

Ironwood's eyes looked away from her. Part of military and huntsman training involved studying past Grimm conflicts since their earliest history on Remnant. In those studies, he saw photos and video of the battle for Kronus. Seeing the aftermath of the conflict made his stomach turn. He couldn't fathom what Caroline felt seeing it all first hand as it happened.

"Many on Kronus hate me for how strict I am at times, but I don't care. As long as-" she was interrupted when the office door quickly sprung open and her two fiercely loyal and dedicated Nubuck guards.

"General Cordovin, ma'am!" One stood at attention. "We apologize for the interruption!"

"But someone is here to see you and the Colonel! She claims to be an envoy of Ozpin!" the other said.

Ironwood and Cordovin both stood up at this, al previous emotions replaced with shock and urgency. "Ozpin… can you confirm this?" she asked.

"We can not!"

"If it helps, her name is Glynda Goodwitch!"

The Nubuck guards then held up a scroll showing a security camera in the main lobby. Where a woman with blonde hair and glasses was waiting in front of a pair AK-133 mechs.

"I've seen her before, on a mission in the Epsilon Nebula sector. She's a graduate from Beacon Academy on Remnant," Ironwood said.

"That is a prestigious school, one that he founded," Caroline pondered for a moment. "Alright, bring her in."

"Yes ma'am!" The guards saluted and jogged out of the office. "Hup hup hup hup hup hup!"

Ironwood watched the guards leave before looking back to the General. "They're-"

"An odd bunch, but some of the best and most loyal fighters I've ever seen," Caroline replied with a smile. Before she could continue speaking, she heard the two Nubuck guards return, their backs were to them.

"Introducing: General Caroline Cordovin!"

"And Colonel James Ironwood!"

The guards part ways to the side and stand at attention. Glynda Goodwitch walked into the room and the guards faced back towards them.

"Miss Goodwitch, its good to see you again," Ironwood smiled as he held his hand up.

"To you as well Ironwood. Congratulations on the promotion." She greeted, shaking his hand before turning to Caroline. "General Cordovin, it's an honor to meet you."

"Pleased to make your acquaintance, Miss Goodwitch," the shorter woman said as she walked over and shook the huntress's hand. "Now, I believe my men told me you were here on 'important business'."

Glynda's smile dropped slightly. "Yes. Unfortunately, I didn't come here for sightseeing."

"Let's cut the needless chit-chat then and get down to business," Caroline put her arms behind her back.

Glynda looked to Ironwood, who nodded in approval. "Very well. Have your guards-"

"They stay," Caroline interrupted. "They've been by my side for decades. Whatever I know, they know."

"Anything said in here shall stay in here!"

"Our lips shall be sealed!"

The guards then shut the office door and stood at attention at Glynda. The huntress looked like she wanted to argue but contemplated it for a few moments. "Very well, I trust you."

Glynda readjusted her classes as she took an unfamiliar looking scroll and placed it on the floor. She held her thumb onto it for several seconds and stepped away. The scroll unfolded and a holographic display appeared.

 _VERBAL IDENTIFICATION REQUIRED._

"Code 1-3-5-7-6. Hotel, Delta, Charlie, Iscar, Tango, Oscar, India, Golf, Whiskey."

 _VOICE SCAN COMPLETE. SPEECH TONE CONFIRMED CALM. MATCH CODE ACCEPTED. STAND BY._

Glynda took a step back towards Ironwood and Cordovin. A holographic screen displayed a two-way video call. On the other side was-

Ironwood and Cordovin's eyes went wide as the stiffened. Even the Nubuck guards eyes were visible under their hats with how wide they were.

"Can you hear us, Ozpin?" Glynda asked.

"Yes I can, loud and clear," said the grey haired man with unusually designed glasses, green scarf, and black formal wear. He took a moment to observe the others in the room. "I suspect you four were expecting a prerecorded message?"

The Nubuck guards nodded quickly. Even though Ironwood and Cordovin composed themselves better, they still let their surprise though. No one could blame them, it wasn't every day you got to talk to an immortal wizard who was practically the only reason humanity was still alive.

"Well, that is your preferred method with the academies. I can't recall a time you called any of us directly," Ironwood said.

"You would be correct," Ozpin said. "Though it is simpler, this situation requires is a special case, one that requires cooperation for when I arrive on Kronus in a few days."

Caroline gulped. "Y-your coming to Kronus?"

"Yes. Are you ok Miss Cordovin?" Ozpin asked with concern.

"I… no, I'm fine. But the last time you were here on Kronus was when Salem launched an attack here decades ago. Now there's trouble brewing once more and you're coming again. Be honest, how bad is our situation?"

"Not as bad as you think," Ozpin replied. "You handled the situation well and quelled the Grimm attack effectively, but there are many red flags from all of this that have me worried. I read the reports of the attack, some of the choices Salem's followers made don't add up for what they seemingly wanted to achieve."

"Explain," Cordovin stepped forward, her face turning to full seriousness.

"There are several, but I'll start with the main one point." Ozpin turned to the Colonel. "Ironwood, in addition to being a military officer, you are among the best staff aboard The Guardian, one of this sector's 5 mobile academies."

Mobile academies were a concept proposed after Salem's crusade to solve the problem of response times between worlds. Mobile academies are large spaceships that act like huntsmen academies. Many students volunteer temporarily to study, work and train on the ships to further their education while also seeing various other worlds within a sector. Graduate huntsman and huntresses even volunteer to serve on the ship to take various jobs on other worlds. On paper, it seemed like an ineffective and resource heavy idea. But in practice, not only do students get extra experience and training and got a wider view of the galaxy and what they're fighting for, but humanity also got an effective first response force when the need arises.

"It is one of the best, sir. I'm proud to be apart of it" Ironwood said.

"I can't argue with that," Ozpin smiled. "However, my point involves the academy. The Guardian has no set patrol route, but it does give the planets it's about to visit a heads up. Cordovin, was The Guardian's arrival to Kronus a secret?"

"No, I made sure the academy's arrival was announced on the news," Cordovin answered.

"Everyone knew that the academy was coming and when it would arrive days before it did. Say what you will about Salem's followers, but they are not entirely foolish. They also knew of The Guardian's arrival, and that its arrival would spell doom for whatever plans they had. Yet, they continued with their plans, causing the attack half an hour before The Guardian arrived."

"They knew the attack would have failed with Ironwood's arrival," Cordovin pondered. A moment later, eyes widening as she put the pieces together. "That's what they wanted."

"The attack was designed to fail, a distraction," Ironwood shared the general's expression. "But for what? Is Salem making a move?"

"No," it was Glynda who answered. "At least not in the sense you're thinking. The witch doesn't seek to conquer these worlds, just to keep our attention her instead of on her."

"There has been increased Grimm activity on the surrounding worlds, all easily quelled. But Kronus has been the only world where her followers were directly involved, most likely because of the tighter security."

"But what is it that's trying to hide from us?" Cordovin asked. "What is her plan."

"I have enough pieces of the puzzle to show what she wants, but the puzzle currently shows 2 different pictures. I want to gather the last few pieces to see which one is real before I fully commit. I should have them by the time I arrive." Ozpin looked away for a moment. "I'm sorry, but I have to go. If you have any more question, Glynda will answer them. I'll see you all again soon."

The hologram dissipated and the scroll folded back up.

* * *

 **A/N** : _So the rwby section ended up being a lot longer than I thought. I'll try to have more of a M.E. sided chapter next time. No promises though._

 _A lot more M.E. characters will be coming, unfortunately I won't have any Andromeda characters since I didn't play that game._

 _Volume 6 was amazing, but I won't use all of the new lore from it for this fic since it'll contradict what I have planned, but it did add a lot to help fill some gaps and added some more cool characters and Grimm to play with. (if you haven't watched vol 6 yet… what are you waiting for.)_

 _Also 2 more quick facts:_

 _-Castis is Garrus's father in the canon according to the wiki_

 _-The Nubuck Guards are the 2 best soldier bois, its the name given to them on the wiki_

 _Anyway, thanks again for reading, have a great day :)_


	5. Arrival

_The Citadel, the grand jewel of the galaxy. Home to some of the galaxy's brightest and rich in culture and technological advancement. Yet somehow none of the over 13 million pyjaks who live here can build an elevator that moves faster than a Tuchankan razor slug. I'm starting to think that maybe the Rebellions was actually a crusade against elevators._

 _(Wrex, an outcast of Clan Urdnot)_

 _We made our stand and survived our judgment days. The powers of darkness have been driven from our land, but many seem to not realize that this is only temporarily. Salem is still out there, and she no doubt still has devoted followers. It's not a question of if, but when she'll return and when they'll strike again. If humanity is not as united as we were during the war when she returns, then we'll be doomed._

 _(Nicholas Schnee, founder of the Schnee Dust Corporation)_

* * *

Saren Arterius stood with his arms behind his back as he looked out of the observation window, watching the array of white and blue lights rush past. Seeing the light of the stars rush past when in FTL travel was always a pleasant sight to behold. But he didn't let it distract him from thinking about his mission. This was it, just one last mission and he would finally join the ranks of the galaxy's elite: The Spectres.

He did find it strange that this would be the mission that would allow him to do so, especially when compared to the other missions of combat, spying, and espionage he had done before, missions with much higher risks and consequences if he failed them. He wasn't saying that guard missions weren't necessary, they are essential in teaching patience and stamping out gun-hoe trigger-happy personalities. He just found it strange that this mission type was his final one for the Spectre process.

He supposed it was irrelevant in the long run, the council spared no expense for this expedition. An entire Turian Hierarchy fleet was providing escort, vastly outnumbering the scientific and research vessels. A mechanized legion was also provided for ground security. The Salarians provided the research and some scout vessels, as well as members of the Special Tasks Group. The Asari even provided 3 cruisers, and a few huntress and commando teams. The Quarian ship 'Rayya' was also a part of the fleet since it was the vessel that discovered the system to begin with.

A task force with this many ships and specialized personnel seemed overkill and unnecessary to many, and they were right in many regards. However, Saren and many others believed it necessary. First contact scenarios have not always been peaceful.

First was the Rachni, a hostile insectoid hivemind that almost overran the council after destroying several worlds. Then were the Krogan, whose aggressive and rapid expansion and conquest into council space was only able stopped once the genophage was unleashed. Next was the Yahg, a pre-spaceflight race quarantined to their homeworld for massacring the council's delegation for seeing the Yahg as equals instead of their superiors.

The Citadel Council did not want to take any chances, better waste credits and resources on unneeded security then get caught off guard.

His was dragged out of his thoughts when his omni tool beeped. "Saren, it's Castis. Report to the bridge, we'll be exiting ftl soon."

"Copy that, on my way," Saren replied before marching off. He was thankful the trip was going to be over soon. While he was used to long travels from his time in the military and there was much to do to help pass the time.

Saren eventually arrived at the bridge of the ship. Ignoring the bridge crew, he headed straight for Castis.

"Commander Vakarian, sir," Saren saluted.

"At ease Arterius," Castis said after briefly returning the salute. "Now we just have to wait for- ah here he is." Saren followed his gaze to the approaching Salarian in black and yellow armor. "Jondum," he greeted.

"Castis, Saren," the Spectre greeted them as he approached. "How much longer until we arrive at the system?"

Castis checked his omni tool. "In… just a few moments actually. Perfect timing."

The fleet finally exited ftl and entered the system. Castis, Saren, and Jondum moved to the front to look out the window. Their view of the system was only slightly ruined by the few ships in front of them.

"White Dwarf class star, one planet, inner asteroid belt, so far the reports are accurate," Jondum said.

"Quarians giving accurate reports, someone call the press," Saren joked.

"Saren," Jondum sighed.

"Oh come on, you know any intel provided by a Quarian is usually off."

Castis ignored the banter between the Spectre and trainee in favor of looking at the tactical holomap. Just as planned, most of the fleet split off into small groups to patrol around the system. The rest formed up and made way for the system's only planet.

Stage one of the expedition was as followed: First, they'd establish a small operating base on the orbital station. Then, they would establish at least 3 outposts on the planet. Once the bases of operation were secure, ground teams will escort the scientists and archeologists to any point of interest to document and recover anything of value.

Just then, a blip appeared on the holomap. It also caught the two Spectre's attention.

"Sirs," an ensign spoke up, "we detected what appears to be the remains of a vessel in the asteroid field. It's not the one marked by the Quarians and it's giving of higher ezzo readings than the others close by."

"Bring it on screen," Castis ordered. A few moments later, the holomap displayed an image of the ship. The trio looked at the ship's remains. It was mostly practically intact but was torn in two.

"Is… is that wood?" Saren's mouth hung open as he looked along the side hull. "Did they seriously use wood on starship's hull?"

"Indeed," Jondum said. "But it doesn't look like it was a main part of the hull. Look at the edges. The wood layer seems to have been added on the outside, as a decoration of sorts."

"A waste of resources if you ask me," Saren shook his head. The very thought of using wood on starships was so ludicrous, primitive even.

"Could be a cultural norm for this species, we can't say for sure just yet," Jondum said as something on the ship caught his eye. He hummed as he had the image zoom in on an area on the front of the ship. It was a teal marking within a black circle. It reminded him of a shield used in ancient times before firearms.

"Saren, log it," the Salarian ordered. "Could be a good useful marker of identification."

"Could be a faction emblem," Saren said as he did what his overseer said. "The Quarian reports did say there were multiple types of ships in the system."

"The same reports you said were inaccurate?" Jondum smirked.

"I said usually off, not always," Saren didn't take the bait. "Anyway, I was just thinking, what took this ship out? There are no signs of weapon damage of any kind along the hull that I recognize."

"I was thinking that as well," Jondum cupped his chin. "There does seem to be a lot of wear and tear near the edges where the hull is separated. My guess would be most likely a latch ditch ramming action, but then where is the debris from other ship?"

"Well, if it wasn't taken out by mass accelerator weapons then it does fit the Legion's theory about intact ezzo cores failing after so many years," Saren thought out loud. "Maybe this will be a quiet run after al-"

"Sir! We, wait…. no, no that can't be right," the ensign from before called out before quickly typing commands into his terminal.

"Ensign, report," Castis turned to him.

"Apologies sir, it a system malfunction," the ensign rubbed the back of his head. "It appeared that for a moment we detected movement aboard the ship."

"Impossible. We detected no life signs in orbit," Saren said.

"Probably a small asteroid, ignore it. Jondum, Saren, as soon as we secure the system we're going to board the station. I want you two on point leading the teams, clear everything room before they enter," Castis said.

"Very well sir," Jondum bowed and lead Saren back to the armory to get their sealed armor.

Little did they know the ship's systems were not malfunctioning, there was a being on the ship watching them closely.

* * *

"Ensign, you have the bridge until I return," Rael'Zorah as he stood up from the captain's chair.

"Yes sir!" the ensign saluted as the captain left. Rael was thankful the crew was less on edge than they were when they first discovered the system. Though it mainly had to do with the large fleet the council provided for security, he could tell that many of the crew were more excited than anything. Even if many knew they wouldn't be part of the main expeditions, just the thought of being among such an expedition was exciting, especially to one little Quarian in particular, one that Rael was off to see personally.

The trip only took a few minutes, and when he arrived he slowly opened the door and looked inside. In the room was a Krogan in a vacuum sealed suit of red armor and the most important woman he has left in his life.

"Alright Tali, let's try it one more time," the Krogan said. "Remember, it's all in the wrist."

"All in the wrist, got it," the young Quarian said. She reassumed the position, aiming the shotgun at the wall. She then quickly lowered it while simultaneously reaching for the thermal clip to insert it, but was off and instead sent it flying across the room.

"You missed," he chuckled as he caught the thermal clip.

"Quiet you," Tali glared at the older Krogan, but even a complete strange would be able to tell its all in good fun.

A Quarian and a Krogan acting like family is definitely a sight that would turn some heads, especially with the Krogans' emphasis on strength and the Quarians' fragility with their environmental suites. But Tali and Wrex have had this uncle/niece relationship since she was a little girl.

The story of how is not a happy one though. 20 years ago, Rael's ship went to Ilium to negotiate trade with some of the planet's companies. Pirates saw this as an opportunity and managed to kidnap some of the Rayya's crew, including Rael's wife and daughter. Illium's police were next to useless, so Rael pleaded with anyone for help. Barely anyone answered, and the few that did wouldn't take up the task. But then he was contacted by a Krogan named Wrex.

By that point, Rael was desperate and was practically on his knees begging him for help. It was a shock and surprise to him that Wrex agreed almost immediately. It was all over in a few hours, but at a cost. Some of the captive crew, including Rael's wife, were hit in the crossfire. The pirates used illegal radioactive ammunition modifiers. There was nothing they could do. Rael held his wife in a loving embrace as she died.

Despite the tragedy, many more lives were saved that day. Since then, Wrex became a trusted person of the Migrant Fleet, especially to Rael and the Rayya's crew, and became the first person they went to for help, from security to… things that can't be proven or linked to the Migrant Fleet.

Rael even had Wrex teach his daughter how to use a gun and fight. Since he traveled all over the galaxy and visited often, Tali would often talk with him and be intrigued by the stories of his adventures.

"Why do we even need these? Our guns work just fine without them," Tali argued.

"Yeah, but they allow for more powerful shots when using them. Trust me, you'll never know when you'll need the extra firepower."

"Wrex is right," Rael made his presence known, " they're a little tedious, but doesn't hurt to have the option in a dangerous galaxy."

"Hi dad," Tali greeted with an upbeat voice.

"Hi less liked father figure," Wrex teased.

"Wha- Wrex!" Tali punched his shoulder, making him giggle.

"Ha ha Wrex, very original," Rael rolled his eyes behind his mask, used to the Krogan's humor by now. "So what were you two up to?"

"Just teaching her a fast reload trick I learned from back home, never know when she'll need it," he explained.

"How's she doing?"

"Getting there. Could use some work though."

"I appreciate it, but I doubt I'll be in a situation where reloading slow could kill me. If it did, I'd just use the regular firing option like a normal person," Tali said.

"And when you overheat?"

"Then I'd use Chikktika to cover me."

"That drone? Heh, that thing couldn't hurt a fly." Wrex then 'eep'ed' as something stung his tail from behind. He didn't need to turn around, seeing Tali's active omni-tool was enough.

"I didn't realize you were a fly, Wrex."

"Brat," he said with a smile.

"That's my girl," Rael laughed. "Now, before I forget why I came down here, I just wanted to let you two know the fleet secured the system and we'll be docking with the station soon."

"Already?!" Tali gasped. "I didn't think we'd be this early! I'm not ready, I still need to get some things ready, I-"

"Tali it's alright, deep breaths," her father calmed her by putting his hands on her shoulders and looking directly into her eyes. "I know it's hard not to be nervous, trust me, I am too. But you're not alone, we're all in this together."

"He's right," Wrex reassured her as well. "If' something bad happens, just remember I'll be right behind you to crack their skulls."

"Me too."

"Yes, I might accidentally head-butt your father in the confusion as well." Even Rael had to admit that was a good one.

Tali giggled. "Is there anything you won't smash your head into?"

"I'd say a thresher maw, but..." Rael and Tali stared at him. "Well, it technically headbutted me first."

"You're hopeless," Rael shook his head and his daughter giggled. "Tali, why don't we-" he paused when his omni tool beeped.

"Captain, I'm sorry to bother you but Admiral Koan is contacting all ships. You're needed back at the bridge. He wants to speak each captain personally about the next phase."

"So soon," Rael muttered. "Well alright then. I'm sorry Tali, I wanted to see you off but I'm needed. Good luck." He wrapped his arms around her.

"I will, thank you dad," Tali returned the hug.

"And Wrex, don't accidentally open an airlock."

"That was one time you pyjak! You guys just suck at labeling things!"

* * *

Saren stood at attention as the shuttle door opened. He and Jondum walked out into the vacuum of space onto what appeared to be a weapon-caused breach in the station's hull.

"Mag boots active," Jondum said. "Right clear."

"Left clear, mine as well," Saren acknowledged before bringing up his omni tool. "Vakarian, this is Saren. Jondum and I are boots on the ground. We'll notify you once we've secured an airlock."

"Roger that Spectre, stay alert," Castis responded quickly and closed the line.

"Alright, we'll take this slow. Jondum, cloak and scout ahead. I don't want to risk getting caught off guard by tripping some automated defenses," Saren ordered as he drew out his assault rifle.

"Good to see you learned your lesson from Tarith. I'll keep in contact," Jondum's cloaking field shimmered to life and suddenly he was gone.

Saren shook his head at the memory. He at least had the fortune that it was his first training assignments and could claim it as a rookie mistake to not notice the trap. He waited a minute before he activated his helmet's flashlights started walking into the station. Jondum's signal was still active and moving, so his silence meant he hadn't run into anything.

Saren proceeded with caution down the dark hallways, the only sound comforting him was his own breathing and the constant on and off of his mag boots.

His omni tool activated. "Spectres, this is Admiral Koan. We're still conducting a scan of the station, but we believe we've detected a sealed off hanger bay. Sending the information to you now."

"Jondum here, acknowledged."

"Saren, roger that." Saren brought up his map. A large area of where the Admiral wanted them to go pinged up. "Jondum, looks like its only a few turns away from me. I'll meet you there."

"Copy," the Spectre replied. "Admiral, by any chance, have you conducted any scans of the planet yet?"

"We've tried to, but were unable to get any sort of reading on the planet," Koan replied.

"Artificial jamming?"

"Unknown. It's following the signs of atmospheric disturbances, but even then we could get some kind of reading on the planet. The STG and techies are leaning towards the Quarians' theory of some kind of advanced jamming network. Its the only thing that makes sense."

"Copy, we'll keep in touch," Jondum ended the connection. "Fascinating." Saren hummed in agreement. A jamming device that could keep you from getting any kind of readings on a whole planet? The hierarchy would definitely be interested in something like that.

A minute of walking later, Saren finally made into a wide open area and took a moment to observe his surroundings. "Jondum, Koan's scans were right, this looks like a hanger bay."

"Copy, I'm almost there. Anything there stand out?" Jondum asked.

"Hmm," Saren looked around again. "I see stairs to an observation platform, could look there for a switch to try and open the main doors. There also appears to be a ship of some kind on the other side of the hanger."

"I just entered the hanger, I'm right next to it." Jondum then fizzled back into visibility and looked over the craft. "Looks like a shuttle if I had to guess. Though its engines appear to be shot up. There are other bullet holes on the side of the hull as well."

"The whole bay is empty except for that. My guess is that they couldn't take it so they sabotaged it," Saren said.

"Assent denial. Not an unreasonable theory. We'll mark it for later, Now, let's see if we can get the doors open." Both made their way up separate staircases and towards a central terminal. As they got closer, a dimly lit holographic display appeared before them. "Hmm, there's still some power flow in the station. Emergency power most likely."

"Would it be enough to open the hanger bay though?" Saren asked. "Could we even open the hangar doors? This is an unknown user interface and a language we don't know." Just looking at the different symbols and trying to comprehend what they all could mean seemed headache inducing.

Jondum tapped the interface a few times and was taken to different menus. "No password or any kind of lock of any kind."

"So what, you're just going to play around until something happens?" Saren asked skeptically.

"Isn't that how all discoveries and inventions are made?" Jondum countered. Saren sighed and shook his head. "Well, if you have a better idea that doesn't involve blowing open the doors and making it practically impossible to seal up again, I'm all ears."

Saren stayed quiet and let his mentor work.

* * *

Salem stared into the seer's crystal-like ball with a critical eye.

The flotilla of foreign ships scattered throughout the system into small groups, the largest of which headed right for the abandoned space station, and were circling around it.

One ship looked familiar, perhaps it was the same one her seer saw just a few weeks ago. Salem knew it was a possibility that these aliens would return, but they arrived sooner than she expected and in larger numbers than she initially thought.

The seer emitted some clicking sounds to its master.

"This... complicates things, but we will make it work. All it will cost us is time, time we will use for preparation," Salem said. She moved her fingers above the glass ball and was met with the image of Grimm on the planet surface. "Move the Obstructore to more secure positions. You will have company arriving on the surface soon. Do not engage, stay hidden until I order otherwise."

She moved her fingers again and was met with a void fleet of her own Grimm. "Pull back from the Kcid Asteroids. The diversion there is no longer necessary. I have need for you here now."

* * *

 **A/N** : And _another chapter done._

 _Yeah I know it's been a while, but I prioritize irl stuff over writing and it's been hectic these past few months._

 _We got out last batch of main characters from the M.E. side introduced and the expedition begins. Hopefully everything is nice and peaceful..._

 _Tali, Rael, and Wrex also have a history. It will be more explored as the story goes on, otherwise it would just be an unnecessarily large exposition dump that would leave no room for any development later. This scene in particular was inspired by a line in the ME3 dlc between Tali and Wrex in the elevator._

 _Also for this fic, I'm combining the gunplay from the first three games. Thermal clips allowed you to more powerful shots (according to what I read in lore) and made gameplay more tactical, but you're effectively back to limited ammo (which was a spoken problem by guys in ME3). Remember, in lore a single block of metal will give you thousands of shots, why fully limit you're military with thermal clips? So I decided to combine the two: Weapons work like in ME1 but can use the thermal clips to fire more powerful shots._

 _Let me know what you guys think in the reviews, I'm curious to hear what you think about this._

 _Thanks again, have a great day :)_


	6. New Plans

_To put it into context, picture a sunny day. A soft breeze, not too cold or too hot, just a perfect day to be outside and enjoy yourself. Now imagine it suddenly gets cloudy and it gets a little dimmer. Not a problem, it happens. But then it gets dark, and so you finally look up and see black storm clouds overhead. It's odd since storms weren't forecasted that day. And then, you finally notice that those 'clouds' aren't actually in the atmosphere. Then the alarms start blaring as AA guns are firing randomly into the storm. That's when I knew the planet was doomed… didn't stop us from trying though, how little good it did us._

 _-Part of a first-hand account from a surviving soldier from Nova Prospect in the opening days of Salem's Crusade._

* * *

 **Kronus, Ironworks Bay**

Just under two weeks after the assault on Ironworks Bay's northern gate, things have finally calmed down. Grimm numbers and activity have gone back down to pre-crisis levels, allowing the colony's citizens to sleep soundly at night once more.

The Guardian mobile academy was actually scheduled to leave days ago but stayed longer as an extra precaution due to cultists being involved with the attack, despite the 'all clear' being given soon afterward. While most didn't mind, few volunteering huntsmen on the ship were a little annoyed, none more so than Tai and Summer were for a time.

Currently, the duo plus Qrow were in the planet's CCT tower making a trans-system call. Raven waited outside.

"That sounded badass," Yang, their eight-year-old daughter, said enthusiastically.

"Language young lady," Summer chastised.

"Sorry."

"That's so scary," the voice of their almost six-year-old daughter, Ruby, shook as she half hid behind her sister.

"Scary? Please, a puppy having a little temper tantrum scares me more than the Grimm," Summer waved off.

"Woah..." Ruby's fear was replaced with awe and inspiration at her mom's bravery. "How many were there? A hundred? Two hundred?"

"Close to a thousand," Tai boasted.

"And you got them all?! Oh my gosh, that's so cool!"

"Hey, I killed them too," Qrow fake pouted from the side.

"We still love you too Uncle Qrow," Yang said.

"When are you guys coming back?" Ruby asked.

"We're just moping up and making sure we didn't miss any of the Grimm," Tai said. "We should be home in a week, 2 weeks tops."

Ruby gasped. "Does that mean you won't miss my birthday?"

"Of course Ruby, we'll be home in time for it," Summer said. Ruby then squealed happily and started talking fast about how all of her friends will be there and how much fun it will be. Their hearts melted at her pure innocence. They would die to preserve that for as long as they could.

"This is what I had to deal with the entire time you were gone. Help me," Yang groaned.

"You can last a few more weeks. You're my strong girl after all." Yang beamed at her dad's praise.

A bell was heard ringing.

"Ohhh, lunch is over already," Ruby moped.

"Crap, I can't be late to class again," Yang said.

"Wait… again?" Tai dragged out.

"Uh… loveyoumissyougottagookthanksbye!" Yang shouted quickly just before the call disconnected.

Tai pinched his nose as he failed to hide a smile. "I blame that on you and your 'too cool for school' attitude," he pointed at Qrow.

"Well, I was too cool for school," Qrow smirked back.

The trio exited the room and saw Raven leaning against the wall.

"How are they?" Raven asked.

"They're doing fine," Summer said.

Raven nodded. "Good." The members of team STRQ exchanged a few silent glances before leaving. They didn't say anything else. What could or needed to be said was said countless times before. They might never understand why Raven left or why she still chooses to distance herself from them, but the door is always left open for her to return and be a part of her daughter's life. They just hoped she'll take the offer one day.

Before they could get moving, Summer's scroll suddenly started ringing. They all paused as she took it out and answered the video call. "Colonel Ironwood."

"Miss Rose," the colonel greeted, "is the rest of your team with you right now?"

"Yeah, they're all here. Why?" Summer asked.

"I'm sorry, but your team is being reassigned. You are to report to the Ironworks Bay command outpost within half an hour." Hearing that news soured Team ST(R)Q's mood.

"What?" They all, except Raven, said in annoyance.

"Oh come on. We booked this time off months in advance, and you even authorized it yourself. Are you sure another team can't handle this?" Tai asked.

"No, I'm sorry," Ironwood apologized. "Look, I understand how important family is, and in any other circumstance I would select another team for this."

"So what's so important that this isn't any other situation?" Qrow asked, voicing everyone else's thoughts.

"I'm sorry, I can't say over a call. These orders come directly from the top, and your team was asked by name for this," Ironwood explained.

"I… I guess we can't really turn this down, can we?" Summer asked rhetorically after a sigh. "We'll be down shortly."

"Thank you, and I'm sorry for the inconvenience. I hope your kids understand," Ironwood said as he ended the call.

"They definitely won't," Tai slumped. "I can hear it now, 'you're the worst, dad. I want a new dad who'll make it next time'."

"Oh don't be like that. They won't like it but they'll understand," Summer reassured her husband with a hand on his shoulder. She didn't doubt her words, but she wasn't looking forward to calling her daughters and telling them the news either. Team STRQ continued to the meeting area in silence.

* * *

Team STRQ eventually arrived at outpost. It was a small convention like room, a wide-open area with a small stage in the front.

"A lot of people here," Tai stated the obvious. The room was crowded with huntsmen, huntresses, and soldiers. They were in groups amongst one another, everyone presumably staying with their teams and squads respectively. There were only a few people mingling with other groups. Only a few notable people stood by themselves; Winter Schnee stood at attention while on a scroll call, and Avitus Rainheart kneeling in a nearby corner praying.

"What kind of assignment do you think this is?" Summer asked out loud.

"A long one," Tai said. "You wouldn't gather this many people for something small and menial." He then noticed Qrow staring off with wide eyes. "Qrow, you ok?"

"Holy shit," he said slowly in awe. The three followed his gaze towards the front stage. A woman wearing a skull mask and in blue robes walked on it. "That's the Grim Reaper."

The Grim Reaper was a very powerful huntress. Not much was known about her, but she is credited with taking on very powerful Grimm and hordes single-handedly. Her kill count was easily in the high 3 digits mark, if not in the 4 digit mark already. It wasn't lost to STRQ, especially to Raven, just how much of a fan Qrow was of her and how much he was inspired by her. He was like a teenage girl and she was the hottest new boy band. He even based his scythe off of hers.

"You should go talk to her," Summer said.

"What?" Qrow almost gasped.

"Come on Qrow, when's the next time you meet your childhood hero? Go ask for her autograph." Summer didn't even try to hide her teasing smirk.

"Maybe she can sign one of those posters of her you used to have," Raven chimed in. "Or that photo of you in a 'kilt'."

"Yeah very funny," Qrow huffed with crossed arms.

"Who knows this could be a sign of your luck finally turning in your favor," Tai adds causing Raven to smirk and Summer to giggle.

"Yeah yeah, laugh it up," Qrow grumbled.

A whistle drew everyone's attention to the stage, where a blonde woman with glasses and a wand was standing.

"Thank you all for coming on such short notice," she said. "Now, I'm sure all of you are wondering why you are here. That will all be explained now." She took a step to the side. "May I introduce, Ozpin." From behind, a grey-haired man with stylized glasses, a green scarf, black formal wear, and a cane walked up to the stage for all to see.

Anyone who didn't gasp or whisper in surprise stood straight up, giving the immortal man their full, undivided attention. Qrow even saw Avitus display an emotion besides annoyance or stoic blankness: pure shock and awe. Qrow couldn't blame him, the man was basically meeting his god after all.

"Thank you all for coming," Ozpin greeted them all with a smile. "My apologies for summoning you all on short notice and inconveniencing you all. I meant to call this meeting yesterday, but other important tasks took my time. I'll try and keep this brief."

He brought out his scroll and activated a holographic display. Several planets were displayed, including Kronus.

"Across several planets, including Kronus, there has been a surge in Grimm activity and attacks similar to what happened here at Ironworks Bay. These are all coming under control if not already contained, but that isn't my main concern. These attacks… they are just a distraction."

That garnered hush whispered amongst the crowd. Team STRQ looked at one another briefly, sharing the same expressions before turning back to Ozpin.

"Salem used similar tactics before, but that was well before we took to the stars. It's why it took me as long as it did to recognize it." He looked almost ashamed at that for a moment before continuing. "Now, what could be so important to warrant such a distraction?" It was a rhetorical question and the holographic display changed to just one planet.

"Nova Prospect, where Salem's 'crusade' began." He didn't bother to hide his disgust. "Recently, the outpost there was forced to retreat. Salem sent a strong force, including at least one Harbinger class Grimm to the planet. Nova Prospect holds our objective. We are not heading there to retake the planet or exterminate the Grimm. Let's... for the sake of this briefing, let's say that an artifact from the war was lost to us. But it was recently confirmed to have been left behind on Nova Prospect, and that Salem knows it's there, but not specifically where on the planet. Salem wants... no, Salem needs it. Therefore, we need to deny her access to it."

"What is this artifact we are seeking?" Someone spoke up and asked.

"That is an excellent question, but unfortunately I can not answer that. Due to how much information was leaked to Salem and her followers early on in the war, I'd rather keep a few secrets to myself and my close allies. I hope you understand," Ozpin answered.

Not everyone was happy with that answer, especially Raven. They didn't like getting sent into danger knowing information was being withheld from them. But at the same time, they could understand Ozpin's reasoning. Human and faunus forces were outright devastated in the early days of the war. Salem just knew where to hit them to cause the most amount of carnage.

"The main plan will be as follows: We will jump into the edge system with a naval escort. They will draw the Grimm away while we head planetside. The artifact is in one of three locations. We will split into teams of three and scout out the areas. Once we have the artifact, we will leave. Hopefully, if all goes well, this will be a short mission. In and out quick, just in time for you all to get some well-deserved leave. Does anyone question?"

Ozpin waited a few moments. He knew a few did, but no one spoke up.

"Very well. If all goes according to schedule, we will leave this evening. More details will be sent to your scrolls shortly. Thank you," Ozpin nodded before turning around and left, leaving everyone else to ponder and talk about their new assignment.

Tai, Qrow, and Summer left to go recall the girls to give them the bad news. Raven made an excuse went off on her on for a little while. She went outside and found a remote alleyway to stay in, leaning against the wall as she gathered her thoughts for a while.

"Artifact," she muttered to herself before scoffing with an ironically amused smirk. "That's bold wording, even for you." She heard footsteps near the alleyway entrance and saw Ozpin standing there. They stared into each other's eyes.

"Had a feeling you would be nearby," he stated. "Your team noticed you were missing."

Raven closed hers for a brief moment before opening them again, allowing fire to materialize around them for a few brief moments. "You really just need me, why were they also dragged into this?" She demanded.

"Because of your semblance," Ozpin answered. "I'm planning to send one member per group, and when they find the relic's location or find too much trouble, you can open a portal to them."

Raven knew there was more to that answer, a lot more. She'd bet her life one of those reasons involved Summer. They were being put in danger, danger for a cause they would never even know, and that pissed her off to no end. However, she couldn't find fault in the immortal's logic. Her semblance can evacuate everyone or send reinforcements at a moment's notice if everything went according to his plan.

"If they die, their blood is on your hands."

Ozpin said nothing but nodded in understanding. "You know, you really should take their offer and return home, even for a short while. Who knows the next time you will have a chance?" he said before leaving.

"Bastard."

* * *

 **Unknown System (Nova Prospect)**

Laira finished up her morning hygienic routine before leaving her bunk quarters building. The camp was filled with pre-made buildings one would see in the early life of a colony before it started to develop. Not the homiest of buildings, but they were cheap and effective. After doing a check of her omni tool, she stepped outside.

Despite being up for less than a day's time, the camp was up and running at peak efficiency. Soldiers manned and patrolled positions along the high wall perimeter. Researchers, scientists, and other personnel conversed and walked to and fro around the camp for various reasons. Shuttles flew overhead and landed inside the camp, being prepared for the expedition taking place later today.

"Ah, Liara," she smiled when she heard her new friend, Mordin Solus, called out to her. He was tinkering with something while sitting on a crate. "Sleep well?"

"Yes I have, thank you," Liara responded with a smile, though in truth she had trouble initially falling asleep due to the excitement of being able to explore an abandoned alien civilization that the galaxy hasn't seen before. She walked over to Mordin and her smile faltered slightly when she saw what he was tinkering with. "Is that..."

"M-9 Tempest. Submachine gun. First made by Elanus Risk Control Services for Eclipse Mercenaries. 925 rounds per minute. Average 50 shots before overheating. Moderate accuracy, high recoil, very effective for close combat and suppressing fire," Mordin explained as he finished tinkering with the weapon and folded it up before attaching it to his belt and standing up.

"Doesn't that seem a little excessive?" Liara asked. "I can understand a pistol for self-defense, but how you described the weapon makes it feel like overkill."

"Guess I did go a little overboard, my mistake," Mordin said. Liara's smile returned to show him it was all good. "Though the system is abandoned of intelligent life, there is still potential for danger. Wildlife for instance. Could run into a predator of some sorts that takes more than a few hits to put down. Hope we don't, but plan for if we do."

Liara couldn't argue with that. Though she never used a gun herself, she could understand the necessity for one. "It seems your more prepared than I am, I didn't even think of bringing a weapon."

"Not many do, especially with the security we have," Mordin quickly glanced over at the soldiers. "They're good, but better safe than sorry. Also brought an M-3 Predator heavy pistol." He turned to show the folded up weapon buckled to his hip.

"Always good to have a back up I guess," Liara said.

"Indeed," Mordin nodded, feeling that he didn't have to mention that he also had a mass effect shield generator under his lab coat. "Welcome to use it if you like."

"Oh. I uh… thank you, but I'll have to decline. I've never used firearms so I don't feel comfortable using one," Liara politely declined.

"No worries, understandable. Offer will still be up just in case. Now, believe we still have an hour until we leave. Shall we grab some breakfast?"

Liara couldn't find a reason to say no. While the food was just above what you'd find at a cheap hotel's free breakfast, small talk with Mordin with others joining more than made up for it. It made Liara feel like she was part of something meaningful, something bigger than herself. This was the biggest discovery of her time, she was excited that she was worthy of being here, of being one of the ones to make the new discoveries they would unearth here.

After their meal, they all headed to the landing pads where the shuttles were making their last-minute checks.

"Alright, listen up," a Turian soldier addressed them all as he quickly typed into his omni tool. "I'll keep this brief. Everyone check your omni tools for a message. It contains a short code, find the shuttle with the matching code, that's your group. Alright dismissed," he said dully and then left.

It seemed not everyone shared her enthusiasm, but it didn't matter to her. Her group, that just so happened to have Mordin in it, boarded the shuttles and they headed off to their destination. The doors were left open, so she was filled with excitement as she saw them approaching an urban center. Her mind raced with so many possibilities of what they could find. Her excitement slowly diminished as they drew closer and the damage and devastation became more clear.

* * *

 **Space, unexplored regions**

Salem read the report in the bridge of her cruiser, a ship of Mistralian design. Ozpin gathered up a sizable taskforce and left Kronus with five warships. One Atlesian battleship and four escorts ships, and at least one silver-eyed warrior was confirmed among the hunters. It was smaller than what Salem expected, perhaps Ozpin assumed a small enough force wouldn't catch her attention. Unfortunate for him that she had a loyal follower among the ranks.

Though the arrival of the aliens complicated things at first, she's gathered enough reinforcements that it didn't matter. Everything was starting to fall into place. The only change she was content with was that she wouldn't be with her forces when they entered the system. As much as she wanted to, she had to look into something that has been bothering her the moment the seer showed her the one alien ship scouting Nova Prospect many weeks ago.

The moment she saw that ship, one word started to slowly crawl up from her mind: Quarian.

It was a sense of deja vu, only not. Deja vu was your mind telling you you experienced something before when you have not actually experienced it before. But here, she has definitely seen that ship, or at least its design, somewhere before. How else would such a foreign word pop up from her mind and match itself with that ship? However, no matter how much she searched the deepest depths of her memory, her mind wouldn't tell her. Like a young child bragging about something you don't know, all her mind would tell was that she's seen it before but wouldn't say where, how, or why.

She pondered and pondered until her mind grew sore. But then finally, she got a clue: a location. She didn't know where this memory came from or how she got it or even how long ago it was. But, it was the only lead she had so she took it.

She didn't know how long the journey would take, but she will get answers.

* * *

 **A/N** : _And there we have it._

 _I know I'm going to catch some flak for Ruby and Yang (and thus everyone else) being as young as they are and thus not being a bigger part in this story. But the thing is, even if they were the same age as in the show, they still wouldn't be a part of the plot. Remember, everyone knows who and what Ozpin is and practically name his as the reason humanity is still alive. If he says a mission needs to be done, you know it's something really important and would send experienced warriors, not warriors still in training._

 _I also want to thank Kcid4229 and Austin DonKill for their contributions to this chapter._

 _Thanks again for reading, have a good day :)_


	7. Queen

_"How many of them can we make die?!"_

(a rallying battle cry from eagle faunus Sobieski Hussar, later founder of Hussar Academy on Europa)

* * *

 **Unknown System (Nova Prospect)**

It was day four of the expedition in the ruins of the unknown alien world. Most of the shock and fright Liara had had all but diminished by now. Different teams would be surveying and studying different areas of interest on the planet. Liara thought they would be studying an area of the destroyed city, but she was wrong. Her group was studying a large compound next to the city.

Progress was painstakingly slow, but for good reason. The first and second days were spent waiting for the fleet to secure the system and establish a planetside base. The third was spent just setting up the forward outposts. That process took up the entire day. The next day, today, they started searching the closest buildings. Liara ended up in front of the group, right beside Mordin, as they approached the large building.

"Is this the structure?" She heard someone ask behind her.

"No, it's the other large building behind it," someone else sarcastically responded. That earned more sarcastic comebacks from the friends and some snickering all around. Liara even let out a soft chuckle as well before turning back to Mordin after he let out a curious hum at his omni tool.

"Something wrong Mordin," she asked.

"Not wrong, odd. Planetary communication working normally. Communications out of atmosphere is a different story," he said.

"Wait, what? Still?" She questioned puzzled.

"Correct. I could call anyone on the planet regardless of location no problem. But, no one can call the ships directly above us, and vice versa."

"Is it because of the earlier theory of atmospheric disruption?"

"Assumed most likely the case, at first. But I have been on planets like that before. If it was atmospheric, all comms would be affected in some way, with mild static at the very least. But here, nothing," he explained as his omni tool blinked away.

Liara thought about what he just said for a few moments. "I don't understand what else it could be then," she admitted.

"Makes it more exciting, doesn't it?"

Liara turned to her friend and saw his cheery smile. He really was excited to be a part of this. There wasn't a single, traceable ounce of worry anywhere on his expression or posture. That had an effect that calmed her on the matter as well. If the professor with much more experience than herself wasn't worried, then why should she be? Besides, there was a logical explanation for this, there had to be. It could be that this atmosphere was just unique and they haven't encountered one like this before. It was a big galaxy after all. What they've seen so far in the universe was only a single drop in an ocean.

They arrived at the building's entrance. The floor was littered with broken glass but many sharp shards still hung to the frames of the walls and supposed doors. They were easily avoided as the team made their way in, the crunching of glass echoed throughout the interior of the building. Everyone activated their flashlights as they entered, taking in the sight before them.

The team split up into smaller groups and began exploring, oblivious to a hidden observer shadowing them.

* * *

In the station above the planet, artificial gravity and atmospheric stabilizers were applied slowly and in sections on the station, which was planned to eventually act as the main base for the expedition. While scans showed the station was clear and safe, several areas still needed exploration before proper artificial atmospheric equipment could be installed in certain areas.

Tali was assigned to one of the teams assigned to one of these teams. "Come on, come on, cooperate with me you bosh'tet," she growled as she hit the side of the panel.

"Language young lady," Wrex said from his spot leaning against the wall.

"Oh hush you. I don't see you trying anything," Tali retorted.

"I did, but you didn't like my suggestion."

"Shotgun to the panel is not a good suggestion."

"Yes it is, it solved a lot of my problems."

"I… you're unbelievable sometimes." Wrex chuckled and Tali rolled her eyes with a smile. That was her uncle Wrex in a nutshell.

"Seriously though, brute force could open that faster than your hotwiring attempts," Wrex said. "Why don't we try that?"

Tali turned to him. "Because I don't think everyone would appreciate it if everything either has bullet holes in it or was warped because you went too hard on it., which means we can't salvage or learn anything from it. And besides, I want to see if I can actually hotwire this door open instead of forcing it open like the others."

"You just want bragging rights on cracking alien tech."

"... that also would be a bonus," she admitted sheepishly.

"Hehehe, that's the little Quarian I know. Hurry up though, I had to get an old helmet for this and it's not exactly comfortable."

"Sure thing," she said after a short chuckle and got back to fiddling with the control panel.

Wrex leaned back against the wall, arms crossed and looking at Tali so his helmet flashlight would help a little bit. After a few moments, the door suddenly beeping rapidly before a holographic red light on its center blinked before turning green, signaling it was open just like the other doors on the station.

"I did it?" Tali sounded surprised. "Er, I mean, ah yes there we go! Told you I could do it."

"Whatever you say," Wrex smiled behind his helmet, proud of his favorite little Quarian.

Tali walked in front of the door and put her hand on the holographic light to open the door. She changed her stance and braced herself for a [ossible sudden gust of air to hit her from the change in air pressure from the sealed door opening. While some doors did than and others didn't, it was good to prepare for it.

However, neither her or Wrex were prepared for what happened next.

As the door opened and the gust of air hit her, something else came flying out of the room. A black, red, white creature sprang out and slammed full force into Tali. Bare teeth pressed against her visor and limbs wrapped around her body as the force of the impact forced her to the ground. Tali screamed and tried to get the heavy creature off to no avail.

Not even moments after she hit the ground, Wrex already had his trusty Claymore shotgun out as he rushed forward. He roared as he bashed the creature off of her, and fired a blast right into the creature's belly. It flew back a fair distance before hitting the ground.

Wrex waited a moment to see if the creature would move before turning back and kneeling. "Tali! Are you ok?! Is your suit breached?!" Tali hyperventilated, staring at what just attacked her. "Tali?!"

"Wha? I- yeah. I…" Tali's breath, still fast and heavy, started to calm down as she padded herself down and felt several areas of her helmet. "N-no, nothing's breached. I'm ok, I'm ok."

"Your hands are still shaking, but that's good at least," Wrex said as he helped her back up to her feet. After making sure she wouldn't fall back down, Wrex turned his attention back to the creature. Shotgun up, he walked over to the corpse with Tali right behind him. He stopped right over it as Tali kept her distance, gagging slightly at the sight. Wrex couldn't blame her. He wasn't an expert in biology, but the corpse was definitely decomposing. It's been dead for a long time, and he just blasted some of its guts all over the floor.

" _All teams check-in. Was that a weapon discharge?_ " Someone called over their omni tools.

"This is Wrex. That was my weapon discharging. We uh... have a situation."

* * *

"A university? Hmm, my guess would have just been a library," Mordin offered his opinion with a cupped chin.

"I would have too, but have you heard from the other teams?" Liara asked.

"Not yet, haven't had the time to check yet. What did they find?" Mordin asked.

Liara opened her omni tool and showed Mordin some pictures. "Several of the other teams found many large meeting rooms with chairs and desks pointed towards one side of the room, where clear boards and screens are located. Others found small rooms with multiple beds, like dormitories. And another team found a large cafeteria, no preserved food I'm afraid."

"Darn, would have liked to see some alien food," Modrin commented.

"I doubt you would be able to eat it, or that it would be fresh for that matter," she teased back.

"True, but looking at one's cooking and drink gives an insight to culture."

"Hmm, I suppose you're right."

Mordin's omni tool beeped and he quickly checked the message. "It appears I'm needed elsewhere. Catch up with you later Liara."

"Take care," Liara responded as he bowed and left. She then went back to the main table in the center of the library. Before she took a break to talk with Mordin, she was studying objects of keen interest.

Books. Actual, physical books. Liara had only seen physical books in museums and at her university, though you needed the proper clearance to see them at the school. Liara never got the chance to look at them, but here she did. She took a drink of water from her canteen and grabbed a book from the pile, bringing it down in front and started flipping through the pages.

The paper, at least paper is what Asari used for their books long ago, was an odd feeling as she flipped through the pages. Every now and then Liara would photograph a page of the book. She would record everything if she could but knew she didn't have the data storage or time.

Liara took a moment to admire the page, to observe the alien texts printed on it. There were so many different symbols. Was each symbol a letter like most of the other languages of the Citadel? She wondered how each letter was pronounced. Her imagination ran wild thinking of possibilities of what this book was. Was it a novel? A biography? A fictional story? A historical text?

"Goddess, if only I could understand their language," Liara wished in a whisper. She skimmed through to the last page and took a final picture of the front and back covers. She placed a book on top of the 'read' pile and grabbed another book to look over. However, before she could open it, disaster struck.

Liara wasn't stacking the read books in a neat pile, the many different sizes of books made it a haphazard uneven tower. She never noticed, her concentration and excitement distracted her. She was unprepared when the top few books toppled over and knocked her canteen over. The lid popped off and water spilled out.

Liara quickly brought the canteen back up, but the damage was already done. She turned back and picked up the book she was going to do next. The pages dripped of excess water as she opened it, confirming her worst fears. The book's pages didn't age as well as others, and the water messed with the ink, practically washing the letters away and turning the page into an ink blob mess.

Liara stared in disbelief. She couldn't believe who own stupidity and ignorance. She just destroyed history, something ancient and valuable. She just committed a great sin in archaeology, with an amateur mistake too!

"Son of a..." The frustration in herself grew and grew until she lashed out. "Damnit!" She chucked the canteen. She listened to it clack on the ground as she cupped her head in her hands with a groan. But as the clanking died down, another sound suddenly reached her ears.

The sound of crushed metal immediately followed by quick-moving footsteps. Liara was brought out of her self pity and went to investigate. "Hello," she called out. "Who's there?" There was no response. "If someone's there and this is a prank, this isn't funny." The canteen ended up bouncing around a bookshelf, and when Liara wounded the corner she gasped. The canteen was crushed in the center as if something bit down into it.

A pang of fear crawled up to her as she quickly turned around to the sound of footsteps echoing around. It sounded like it came from behind her but she couldn't tell. Her heart beat faster as she backed away. She brought up her omni tool to call for help, but before she could type a single command, her body stiffened. There was growling behind her.

* * *

"Unless we can determine what the atmospheric pressure of the room was before it was opened, getting an accurate idea of the rate of decay is impossible, unfortunately," Mordin stated.

"We figured as much, but I at least wanted to see if I could get a second opinion," Jondum said over the call. "Though if you had to take an educated guess, what would you say?"

"Depends. If absolutely no atmospheric pressure, decades. With pressure, weeks to a few months. Species' biology also a major indicator. Speaking of-"

"The autopsy's still going on, at least it was before I came down here," Jondum interrupted. "All we can really confirm is that the alien's skin is a brown color, it had black fur on the top of its head and face, and its facial structure is similar to that of Asari and Drell. The skeletal structure is also theorized to be similar as well, with some possible similarities with the Batarians."

"Hypothesised that from the images as well. Amazing how similarly life evolves."

"Indeed. Ok, that's all I can spare for now. Take care Professor."

"You as well." With the call concluded, Mordin decided to head back to the library. He was curious to see if Liara found anything interesting in those books, like some illustrations. He entered the library but could see that she wasn't at the table. He was about to call her name when a growling sound echoed throughout the room.

Mordin's hands instinctively reached down to and hover over his pistol. That didn't sound good. It was an animal of some kind, local, and it didn't sound like a herbivore. "Li-" Mordin's callout was halted when he heard a terrifying scream. It was Liara.

His pistol was drawn and he sprinted as fast as he could towards the screaming and animalistic growls. The sound of biotic discharge reached his ears, at least comforting him that she was fighting back. Mordin saw Liara trip out from the isle and get dragged back into it, screaming for help all the while.

Mordin quickly reached and rounded the corner. Liara was looking behind her at her attackers, desperately trying to kick the animal that had its jaw clenched on her leg off to little effect. The animal had a black hind, white bone armor, two legs, and a tail. A second one was with it and leaped into the air, no doubt wanting to strike at Liara's head for the killing blow.

Half a second after rounding the corner and processing the situation, Mordin opened fire. He squeezed the trigger as rapidly as he could, getting direct hits on the leaping animal and caused it to veer off course and land next to Liara. The creature howled in pain and backed up. The second one still greedily held on, but Mordin quickly snapped to it and opened fire, forcing the animal to let go.

Mordin's pistol beeped, signaling it overheating. He dropped it and Liara's reaching hand while quickly activating his omni tool and launching an incinerate towards the closest beast and hitting it dead center. He then drew his smg as he dragged Liara out of the aisle and to the side, sitting her up against the bookshelf.

"What the fuck is going on?!" Mordin turned to see one Asari and two Turian soldiers sprinting towards them.

"Predators, two of them! Attacked T'soni! I got her, go!" Mordin shouted quickly. The soldiers ran down the aisle he pointed down to get them. "Liara, are you ok?" He asked with genuine concern, putting his smg away and looking over her leg.

"Y-yeah," Liara said between a hiss while she tried to calm her heavy breathing. "I'm ok…. I'm ok."

Mordin rolled up a pant leg to get a better look at the wounds. "Hmmm, wounds not that deep, barely deep at all. Managed to get a barrier up," he stated more than asked as he ran his omni tool over the wounds.

"Yes, actually. I didn't manage to get it up before… whatever that thing was bite me, but I managed to at least stop it from biting all the way through I guess," she explained. She looked down when he didn't respond. "Mordin?"

The Salarian studied the reading from his omni tool intensely. "No no, that can't be right," Mordin muttered before running it over her wounds again.

"Professor?"

"Hmmm….. just in case," he muttered again, and Liara hissed at the burning sensation of disinfectants. "Sorry Liara, just scanning to make sure no venom or the like infiltrated. No venom thankfully, but readings are confusing."

"Confusing? Why?" She asked as Mordin applied medi-gel, feeling instant relief.

"Was scanning to make sure there wasn't venom in the wounds. None thankfully, nothing there. But, that's the confusing part. Nothing, not even any bacteria."

"That… is odd," Liara admitted as she thought about it. When it came to bacteria, one's mouth was the most contaminated area of the body by a long shot. But then again she wasn't a zoologist and these were alien creatures.

"Annnnnd there we go," Mordin's omni tool blinked away and be pulled her pants leg back down. "How do you feel?" He helped her back to her feet.

"A lot better, I don't feel a thing. Thank you," she looked down at her leg. "Though I will need a new pair of pants now."

"Out of my expertise, unfortunately."

"Professor Solus," they turned to the returning soldiers. "You said there were two of those things correct?"

"Yes. Shot at both, hit one with an incinerate," the Salarian replied.

"When we went into the aisle, we saw one running and ash blowing, so we assumed that one burned to death."

"That quickly, hmm, must be extremely flammable with weak skeletal structure then. Didn't hear any gunshots, last one got away," he stated more than asked.

"Unfortunately, it had a head start and managed to evade us. We did manage to contact the base and warn the other teams about hostile wildlife. Oh, and I assume this is yours?" He held out Mordin's pistol.

"Ah yes, thank you," Mordin thanked him as he took his pistol back.

"We'll keep searching for the thing in case it tries to come back, stay alert," the Asari trooper said before the soldiers left. Mordin looked over the pistol to check for any damages, saw nothing wrong, and paused for a few moments before holding it up to Liara.

"Mordin?" Liara asked in confusion.

"Take it," he insisted. "We now know there are predators here. You could run into more, and I or someone else might not be close to help in time."

Any counter Liara may have had died when he stated that fact. "... I never used one before."

Mordin smiled and started giving her a quick rundown on how it worked.

* * *

 **Space, unknown regions**

"Rannoch." The word left Salem's lips as the memory came back to her. The planet she was at was named Rannoch, once home to a people named the Quarians.

Her ship, escorted by several Wraiths, arrived and was met with a massive fleet of wingless wasp-like ships. Salem wasn't a fool, but before she could give the order to turn around, the Grimm moved forward and the ships… parted out of the way.

Salem ordered the Grimm to halt, curious as to what was happening. The massive fleet split into two, forming somewhat of a path. One ship turned around and slowly started going down the path. Salem thought for a moment and left her ship, bringing some Beowolfes with her in a shuttle to follow.

The ship led her to the surface and deployed two buglike smaller ships, acting as an escort as they led her to the outskirts of a city. They approached a landing pad and Salem could see many humanoid figures rushing together around the platform.

Her ship landed and she exited, flanked by her Grimm. Salem could now tell that the humanoids were actually robots. One strode forward and stood in front of her at a respectable distance. Salem knew what they were: Servants.

...no. 'Servants' was the word in humanity's language. In the Quarian's tongue, Khelish she believed it was called, the word was-

"Geth," she addressed the being in front of her. The aperture in its eye widened only slightly.

"Queen," it said back in the alien language and dropped to one knee. All of the Geth followed suit, kneeling before her.

Salem smiled. "Rise," she commanded with a raised hand and the Geth followed. "I have need of you."

* * *

 **A/N** : _And there we have it._

 _Apologies for the wait, but and college take priority_

 _So, some discoveries are made, close calls are had and… Salem can speak the_ _Quarian language and knows the Geth? And they're bowing down to her?! What is happening?!_

 _Questions that will be answered another time… or in a quick WoR chapter, we'll see. Also don't worry, something you've all been waiting for will happen next chapter._

 _Oh, and shout out to KegiSpringfield for the new cover art._

 _Thanks again for reading, have a great day :)_


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